DICENTRA 



Pistil. — One; style slender; stigma two-lobed. 

 Fruit. — Long, slender pod; ten to twenty seeds. 



Pollinated by bumblebees and bee-like flies. Nectar- 

 bearing. Anthers mature before the stigmas. 



The forest floor of spring possesses nothing more 

 exquisite and delightful than the foliage of the two 

 Dicentras, which are alike m leaf, though differing in 

 root and blossom. The plants grow in tufts and 

 bunches and so form beds often covering a consider- 

 able area. All the leaves come directly 

 from the root and not from stems. 

 These are rather large, thrice com- 

 pound, and so finely cut again and 

 again that they present a spray-like, 

 feathery appearance. These plants single Flower of 

 love the woodlands, and by spreading Dutchman's- 

 their green leaves before the trees are Diantra ciuuiidria 

 in leaf they have the spring sunshine, 

 so they can do their work early, mature their seeds, 

 store food in their roots for the leaves and blossoms 

 of next year, and by midsummer they have retired 

 from the field. 



Dutchman's-Breeches, Dicentra cucullaria, is, if there 

 is any difference at all, the prevailing western form. 

 In northern Ohio both species occur, frequently to- 

 gether, but in any colony one species is always the 

 more common; they never seem to share the space 

 equally. Cucullaria is the wide-legged type, white 

 with yellow tips, not fragrant, and the little legs are 

 nectar pockets formed by two petals. Opposite these 

 two petals are two others more or less spoon-shaped, 

 with the spoon bowls united to protect the anthers 



97 



