Horticulture/Dicentra

Bleeding Hearts DicentraFormosaFlower.jpg Dicentra Fumariaceae Annuals and herbaceous perennials Insect Dicentra is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Fumariaceae, native to Asia and North America. The common name Bleeding heart is used for many of the species. This name comes from the appearance of the pink flower, which resembles the shape of a heart with a drop of blood descending. All members of the genus are toxic if eaten by humans, housepets, or livestock. Description Foliage is basal and alternate, pinnately dissected or compound, lacking stipules, and without hairs. Stems contain a thick, clear juice. Roots are rhizomes, tubers, taproots, or fibrous. Fruit an elongated capsule. Many species are late ephemerals, dying down in mid to late summer. Growing conditions Deep, rich soils in light shade to shade. Varieties ../Dicentra canadensis/ - Squirrel-corn ../Dicentra cucullaria/ - Dutchman's-breeches ../Dicentra eximia/ - Wild Bleedinghearts, Fringed Bleeding Heart ../Dicentra formosa/ - Western or Pacific Bleeding Heart ../Dicentra pusilla/ ../Dicentra scandens/ ../Dicentra spectabilis/ - Bleeding Heart Maintenance Cut back when leaves are fully yellowed. Propagation Division or seed Pests and diseases thumb|Dicentra cucullaria ../Leaf Spots/ ../Downy Mildews/ Peronospora dicentrae ../Wilts/ ../Fusarium/ ../Sclerotinia sclerotiorum/ ../Verticillium/ ../Stem Rots/ Pellicularia rolfsii ../Rusts/ Cerotelium dicentrae (alt host Wood Nettles) ../Viruses/ ../Slugs and Snails/ References Ann Fowler Rhoads and Timothy A. Block Anna Anisko, illustrator The Plants of Pennsylvania: An Illustrated Manual 2000 Morris Arboretum, University of Pennsylvania Press 435–436 Christopher Brickell and Judith D. Zuk The American Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants 1997 DK Publishing 362–363 Staff of the L. H. Bailey Hortorium Hortus Third: A Concise Dictionary of Plants Cultivated in the United States and Canada 1976 Cornell University Press 380–381 Pirone Pascal P. Diseases & Pests of Ornamental Plants Fifth Edition 1978 John Wiley & Sons, New York 242