Flora of North America species comparison

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Dicentra chrysantha

golden eardrops
Habit Plants perennial, caulescent, glaucous, from stout taproots.
Stems

1 or more, rigidly erect, 5-15 dm, 1-2.5 cm diam. at base.
Leaves

(10-)15-30(-45) × (3-)5-9(-16) cm;

blade with 3, rarely 4 orders of leaflets and lobes; ultimate leaflets (10-)20-30(-60) × (5-)10-20(-25) mm, ultimate lobes oblong, apex acute.
Inflorescences

paniculate, usually at least 5 times longer than wide;

bracts lanceolate to ovate, 3-5 × 1-2 mm, margins entire;

bracteoles absent, rarely present.
Flowers

erect, with slightly pungent odor;

pedicels rigid, 2-10 mm;

sepals ovate to cordate or nearly round, 3-7 × 2-5 mm;

petals golden yellow;

outer petals (10-)12-16(-22) × 2-4 mm, reflexed portion 4-7 mm;

inner petals (8-)15-17(-18) mm, blade 3-5 mm, claw 6-9 mm, confluent with and nearly as wide as blade, crest usually about 1-3 mm diam., scarcely exceeding apex;

filaments of each bundle connate from base to shortly below anthers, rarely distinct from near base; nectariferous tissue borne at base of median filament, not projecting into outer petal;

stigma shortly 2-horned, ca. 2 times wider than long.
Capsules

ovoid, attenuate at both ends or sometimes rounded at base, (5-)15-25(-32) × 5-8 mm.
Seeds

slightly reniform, 1.5-2.2 mm diam., densely covered with tiny protuberances, elaiosome absent.
Artificially

produced hybrids between Dicentra ochroleuca and D. chrysantha also had 2n = 32.
2n

= 32.

Dicentra chrysantha
Phenology Flowering early spring–late summer.
Habitat Dry gravelly hillsides, gullies, and disturbed areas, often invading after fire
Elevation 100-2200 m [300-7200 ft]
Distribution
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

The seeds of Dicentra chrysantha usually do not germinate unless desiccated or seared by fire.

The Kawaiisu applied dried, mashed roots of Dicentra chrysantha to the chest for heart pains (D. E. Moerman 1986).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 3. Treatment author: Kingsley R. Stern.
Parent taxa Fumariaceae > Dicentra
Sibling taxa
D. canadensis, D. cucullaria, D. eximia, D. formosa, D. nevadensis, D. ochroleuca, D. pauciflora, D. uniflora
Synonyms Dielytra chrysantha
Name authority (Hooker & Arnott) Walpers: Repert. Bot. Syst. 1: 118. (1842)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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