Pacific Bleeding Heart (Dicentra formosa)

8/17/03 Emerald Lake, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Shasta County, CA

LIFE LIST NOTES:

COMMON NAME: Pacific Bleeding Heart

SPECIES: Dicentra formosa

FAMILY: Papaveraceae (Poppy & Family)

LIFE LIST DATE: 8/17/2003

LOCATION: Emerald Lake, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Shasta County, CA

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Treatment from The Jepson Manual (1993):

Plant 20–45 cm, sometimes glaucous, rhizomed
Leaves 2-ternately dissected, 20–50 cm

Inflorescence 4+-flowered

Flower nodding; petals 14–18 mm, rose-purple to whitish, not drying black; base of central stamen of each set aligned with lateral 2

Fruit 14–20 mm, long-conic

Ecology: Damp, shaded areas

Elevation: < 2200 m.  

Bioregional distribution: Northwestern California, Cascade Range, High Sierra Nevada, n Central Western California 

Distribution outside California: to British Columbia
Small plants from nw KR with bluish glaucous leaves and light petals have been called subsp. oregana (Eastw.) Munz, Oregon bleeding heart