Bleeding Heart (Dicentra formosa) Fumitory Family (Fumariaceae)

This plant likes to grow in moist, usually shaded forest and stream banks at low elevations. There are some beautiful patches out in the wetlands area.

Flower

The flower is pendent and ranges from light pink, red to purple. It is 3/4 - 1” long. It is shaped like an elongated heart made of two fused petals. I see bumblebees and hummingbirds visiting these flowers.

Seeds

The fruit is a pod-like capsule that contains several seeds. The seeds are black, pebbled and shiny. Each one has a small, white, oil-rich appendage that is attractive to ants, which disperse the seeds.

Leaves

The leaves are fernlike, compound, incised and basal. There is a patch of ground out in the wetlands that is bare of any plants in the winter which would lead you to think that there is nothing growing in the shade of the trees. By early spring, the patch is thick with lovely, delicate green leaves.

Quick Reference:

Height: 6 - 20”
Leaves: fernlike, compound, incised, basal
Flowers: Corolla pink, 3/4 - 1” long, pendent, shaped like an elongate heart made of two fused petals.
Habitat: Moist, usually shaded forest and stream-banks at low elevations.

Journal Location:
Mt. Pisgah Arboretum
Eugene, OR

References

Mathews, Daniel. Cascade-Olympic Natural History. Raven Editions in conjunction with Portland Audubon Society, 1988.
Pojar, Jim, and Andy MacKinnon. Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast: Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Alaska (Revised). B.C. Ministry of Forests and Lone Pine Publishing, 1994.