Dicentra (Greekdís "twice", kéntron "spur"),[3] known collectively as the bleeding-hearts, is a genus containing eight species of herbaceousfloweringperennial plants with unique, "heart"-shaped flowers and finely divided foliage. The species are, primarily, native to North America, although several are found in temperate East Asia.
Description and growth requirements
Flowers have two tiny sepals and four petals. The flowers are bisymmetric: the two outer petals are spurred or pouched at the base and curved outwards or backwards at the tip, and the two inner ones with or without a crest at the tip. In Dicentra, all leaves are in a basal rosette, and flowers are on leafless stalks. In other genera with bisymmetric heart-shaped flowers (Lamprocapnos, Dactylicapnos, Ichtyoselmis, Ehrendorferia), leaves grow on stems as well as from the root.[4] Each of the two compound stamens is composed of one median and two lateral half stamens fused together. The stamens and pistil are held between the inner petals.
Native to Northeastern Asia, the Pacific Northwest, as well as parts of the eastern United States, Dicentra almost universally prefer growing in cool, temperate, wet forests with excellent drainage, often growing side-by-side with ferns, Hosta, mosses, and other shade- or dappled-light-loving species, depending on location and region. While Dicentra will bloom in filtered light or shade, if grown in poorly-drained soil and intense lighting, they will not bloom or thrive.[5]
The genus Dicentra includes plants whose flowers and leaves grow on stems directly from the roots. Species with branching stems used to be included in the genus, but have now been moved to other genera.[4]
The genera Dactylicapnos, Ichtyoselmis, Ehrendorferia and Lamprocapnos were previously included as subgenera in Dicentra, but have been shown not to belong in this genus (see for example Flora of China)
Dactylicapnos Wall. (14 species of herbaceous climbers with yellow flowers, Himalaya to SW China)
