Dicentra pauciflora
Dicentra eximia
few flower dicentra, few-flower bleeding-heart, shorthorn steer's-head
bleeding heart, eastern bleeding-heart, fringe bleeding-heart, turkey corn, wild bleeding-heart
(7-)9-13(-16) × 3-7(-10) cm;
petiole (2-)4-7(-10) cm;
blade with 3-4 orders of leaflets and lobes; ultimate lobes linear-lanceolate, (2-)7-13(-18) × 1.5-3 mm, occasionally irregular, minutely apiculate.
(10-)20-35(-55) × (5-)10-15(-30) cm;
blade with 4 orders of leaflets and lobes;
abaxial surface glaucous; penultimate lobes lanceolate to oblong or ovate, (6-)10-20(-35) × 2-5 mm.
racemose, 1-3-flowered, barely exceeding leaves;
bracts ovate, 4-5 × 2-3 mm.
paniculate, 5-many-flowered, usually exceeding leaves, (20-)30-45(-65) cm;
bracts lanceolate, 3-6(-11) × 1-2 mm, apex acuminate.
erect to nodding;
pedicels 5-25 mm;
sepals ovate to lanceolate, 5-8 × 2-4 mm;
outer petals white to pink, (15-)18-22(-25) × 3-6 mm, reflexed portion (5-)7-8(-11) mm;
inner petals purple, (15-)18-22(-24) mm, blade spoon-shaped, 2-3 mm, claw obovate-elliptic, ca. 10 × 3-4 mm, crest absent;
filaments of each bundle connate at base and near apex, distinct in between, distinct portion of median filament forming loop that almost doubles back to its proximal end; nectariferous tissue borne at lowermost point of loop and often extending to base of median filament;
style 7-11 mm;
stigma 2-lobed, much reduced, ca. 2 times wider than style.
pendent;
sepals reniform, 2-5(-8) × 1.5-4 mm, apex acuminate;
petals rose-purple to pink, rarely white;
outer petals (15-)20-25(-30) × 2-5 mm, reflexed portion 4-8 mm;
inner petals (15-)18-22(-25) mm, blade 2-4 mm, claw linear-lanceolate, 5-10(-14) × 1-2.5 mm, crest 1-3 mm diam., exceeding apex by 2-3 mm;
filaments of each bundle connate at base and near apex, distinct in between, distinct portion of median filament forming loop that lies within base of outer petal; nectariferous tissue borne toward base of median filament;
style 7-14 mm;
stigma 2-horned.
spindle-shaped to ovoid, 10-15 × 4-6 mm.
oblong to ovoid, (15-)18-22(-27) × ca. 4 mm.
reniform, ca. 2 mm diam., smooth, elaiosome present.
slightly reniform, ca. 2 mm diam., finely reticulate, elaiosome present.
= 16.
= 16.
Dicentra pauciflora
Dicentra eximia
The natural range of Dicentra eximia extends along the Appalachians from North Carolina and Tennessee to Maryland and Pennsylvania. It is frequently cultivated and sometimes escapes outside that area, but it evidently has not become truly naturalized beyond it. Such garden escapes, perhaps including misidentified plants of D. formosa, also widely cultivated, are almost surely the basis for reports of D. eximia from Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, New York, Connecticut, and Vermont.
Several patented hybrids between Dicentra eximia and D. formosa are sold in nurseries.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
MD Biodiversity
