Bleeding hearts spread through rhizomes and form small patches as they become established. The leaves are compound and have leaf margins that appear irregularly and sharply indented (incised). The flowers are a pink hue shaped like an elongate heart made of two fused petals, hiding a smaller pair of fused petals inside. I read that hummingbirds are attracted to them. I have been checking on small patches of bleeding heart to see if I can watch hummingbirds getting the nectar.
Bleeding heart like to live in moist forests or along river banks. Look for them out in the wetlands area at the arboretum.
Dicentra means two-spurred which refers to the two small spurs on the outer two petals. Formosa means beautiful.
Pacific Bleeding Heart (Dicentra formosa)
