by Dr. F. Alice LeDuc
Bleeding Hearts – Dicentra formosa, Pacific Bleeding Heart; Dicentra uniflora, Steers Head Bleeding Heart or Longhorn Bleeding Heart
The Bleeding Heart, is one of my childhood favorite flowers. It is so in part because of a favorite book I read as a child, Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates, the story was of a Dutch boy and his skating races on the canals of Holland. Classic pictures of boys wearing pants that puffed out to the sides is the same silhouette one sees as the shape of the bleeding heart flowers. So, another name my mother called this plant was Dutchman’s Breeches. (Picture: Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates 1925 Edition written by Mary Mapes Dodge, Illustrated by Clara Burd)
The genusDicentra h as representative species throughout the world. One species from China is a common garden plant in many parts of the U.S. and Europe (of course it has now been moved to a different genus Lamprocapnos spectabilis). Here in southern Oregon the genus Dicentra is represented by two species, the Pacific Bleeding Heart and the Longhorn Bleeding Heart (as I am an alum of the University of Texas, my preferred common name.) Our two species have a native range in the mountains: Cascades, Coastal and Sierra, of the Pacific Northwest south into northern California. It is found in moist woodlands, mountain forests and along stream banks.
Bleeding Hearts are herbaceous perennials that have a basal cluster of highly divided, fern-like leaves and inflorescences on arching stocks held above the foliage where the individual flowers hang downward. Flowers are pink or occasionally white, each of the outer two petals are swollen into a pouch that then curve outward at the tip. The inner two petals are perpendicular to the out and connected at the base. (see Photo)
The Bleeding Hearts are popular herbaceous plants found growing in many gardens. One can easily see our Pacific Bleeding Heart along with the Fringed Bleeding Heart that is native to the Appalachian Mountains of eastern U.S. and the Asian Bleeding Heart (which is still sold under the obsolete name of Dicentra spectabilis.) All species happily grow in partial shade in wooded areas, perennial beds and borders. There are a number of cultivars of each of the three species. One can find ‘Quicksilver’ and ‘Snowflakes with white flowers and ‘Bacchanal’ with dark red flowers and ‘Luxuriant’ with red flowers, all cultivars of the Pacific Bleeding Heart. Also, check out ‘Alba’ and ‘Valintine’ which has pink and white flowers, these are cultivars of the Asian Bleeding Heart. In addition, you can find ‘Alba’ and ‘Snowdrift’ which are cultivars of Fringed Bleeding Heart. Some favorite cultivars ‘King of Hearts’ and ‘Silversmith’ are actually hybrid selections of Dicentra formosa crossed with D. eximia the Fringed Bleeding Heart.
FYI, the plants contain an alkaloid compound that is toxic to cattle.
As for the Longhorn Bleeding Heart, this is a plant found in gravelly soils instead of the moist shady soils of the mountain meadows and streams. It has not had the popularity of the other species. The flower stocks are shorter and close to the foliage. The flowers look very like a silhouette of the head of a typical longhorn cow. Of course, for a University of Texas fan this is the one I would love to have in my garden. (Photo: Steershead or Longhorn Bleeding Heart (Dicentra uniflora). Photo via US Forest Service)
