Flora of North America species comparison

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Dicentra formosa

Dicentra uniflora

Oregon bleeding heart, Pacific bleeding-heart, Pacific bleedinghearts, western bleeding-heart

long-horn steer's-head, one flower dicentra, steer's-head
Habit Plants perennial, scapose, from elongate, stout rhizomes. Plants perennial, scapose, from clusters of club- to spindle-shaped tubers, small bulblets often present at proximal ends of tubers.
Leaves

(15-)25-40(-55) × (8-)12-20(-35) cm;

blade with 3-5 orders of leaflets and lobes;

abaxial surface and sometimes adaxial surface glaucous; penultimate lobes oblong, distal ones usually coarsely 3-toothed at apex, (4-)10-20(-50) × (1.5-)3-4(-8) mm.

4-7(-10) × (1-)3-4 cm;

petiole 2-5(-8) cm;

blade with 3-4 orders of leaflets and lobes;

surfaces pubescent near base, rarely sparsely pubescent throughout; ultimate lobes variable in shape, often oblong to spoon-shaped, (2-)6-12(-18) × 1.5-6 mm, minutely apiculate, occasionally retuse.
Inflorescences

paniculate, 2-30-flowered, usually exceeding leaves;

bracts linear-lanceolate, 4-7(-12) × 1-2 mm, apex acuminate.

1-flowered, barely exceeding to shorter than leaves;

bracts 1 (rarely 2) per scape, lanceolate, 4-6 × 2-3 mm.
Flowers

pendent;

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

petals rose-purple, pink, cream, or pale yellow, rarely white;

outer petals (12-)16-19(-24) × 3-6 mm, reflexed portion 2-5 mm;

inner petals (12-)15-18(-22) mm, blade 2-4 mm wide, claw linear-elliptic to linear-lanceolate, 7-10(-12) × 1-2 mm, crest 1-2 mm diam., exceeding apex by 1-2 mm;

filaments of each bundle connate from base to shortly below anthers except for a 2-3 mm portion of median filament just above base; nectariferous tissue borne along distinct portion of median filament;

style 3-9 mm;

stigma rhomboid, 2-horned.

nodding to erect;

pedicels 2-7 mm;

petals pink to white, suffused light brown;

outer petals (7-)12-16(-20) mm, reflexed portion (4-)6-8(-10) mm;

inner petals purple-tipped, (11-)13-15(-17) mm, blade triangular to lanceolate or spoon-shaped, 4-8 mm, claw linear-oblong, 4-6 mm, crest absent;

filaments of each bundle usually distinct above base, occasionally connate just below anthers, median filament forming loop with slight indentation near base; nectariferous tissue borne along basal part of loop;

style 2-5 mm;

stigma shallowly 2-lobed, much reduced, slightly wider than style.
Capsules

oblong, 4-5 mm diam.

ovoid, attenuate to style, 9-14 × 5-9 mm.
Seeds

reniform, ca. 2 mm diam., finely reticulate, elaiosome present.

reniform, ca. 1.5 mm diam., finely and obscurely reticulate, elaiosome absent.
2n

= 16.

Dicentra formosa

Dicentra uniflora
Phenology Flowering very early spring–late summer.
Habitat Rocky slopes and hillsides in gravelly soils, often flowering near edges of melting snowbanks
Elevation 1500-2200(-3300) m (4900-7200(-10800) ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).

Andrews has been cited almost universally as the author of Fumaria formosa. However, Haworth's authorship of the sixth volume of Andrews' Botanists' Repository (in which this species was originally described) generally has been overlooked, and it was actually Haworth who first delineated F. formosa (W. T. Stearn 1944).

Early attempts to cross Dicentra formosa with D. eximia (2n = 16) failed, possibly because the D. formosa parents were tetraploids. Several later hybrids between the two species received plant patents and have become widely marketed throughout the flora area and elsewhere (K. R. Stern 1961, 1968; K. R. Stern and M. Ownbey 1971).

Both subspecies, as well as hybrids between them and Dicentra eximia, are widely cultivated.

The Skagit used a decoction of the roots of Dicentra formosa to expel worms; they chewed raw roots for toothaches (D. E. Moerman 1986, species not indicated).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Petals rose-purple to pink, rarely white; leaf blades adaxially not glaucous (rarely glaucescent).
subsp. formosa
1. Petals cream-colored or rarely pale yellow, rose-tipped; leaf blades adaxially distinctly glaucous.
subsp. oregana
Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Fumariaceae > Dicentra Fumariaceae > Dicentra
Sibling taxa
D. canadensis, D. chrysantha, D. cucullaria, D. eximia, D. nevadensis, D. ochroleuca, D. pauciflora, D. uniflora
D. canadensis, D. chrysantha, D. cucullaria, D. eximia, D. formosa, D. nevadensis, D. ochroleuca, D. pauciflora
Subordinate taxa
D. formosa subsp. formosa, D. formosa subsp. oregana
Synonyms Fumaria formosa, D. saccata
Name authority (Haworth) Walpers: Repert. Bot. Syst. 1: 118. (1842) Kellogg: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 4: 141. (1871)
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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