Bleeding hearts have very attractive pink heart-shaped flowers. They are native to Siberia, Japan, Korea,
and northern China. They are very popular in U.S. gardens.
Plants: 2-5′ (60-150 cm) in height, with
a bushy habit. Plants become dormant after producing seed pods, yellowing and looking pretty
much hopeless. But they bounce back in the spring.
See Dicentra for
a comparison table.
Leaves: 4-12″ (10-30 cm) in overall size, divided two or three times into smaller leaflets, on stems 1¾-4½″ (5-12 cm) in length.
Flowers: All bleeding-hearts have pillowy, heart-shaped
flowers with a white longer petal hanging from the bottom. Flowers appear in Apr-May. Some
varieties bloom much later.
Fruits: Beanlike oblong seed capsules, each with 2-8 seeds, are ⅞-1¼″ (2.5-3.5 cm) long.
Seeds are black and rounded, approximately ⅛″ (3 mm) around.
Edibility: Poisonous. May also cause a rash in some people.