FUMARIACEAE 
FUMITORY FAMILY 
DUTCHMAN'S BREECHES 
Dicentra Cucullaria (L.) Bernh. 
The Fumitory family is relatively small and economi- 
cally unimportant save for a few garden flowers such as 
Bleeding Heart. 
The Dutchman’s Breeches occurs from Nova Scotia to Lake 
Huron and Minnesota, 
southward to North Caro- 
lina and Missouri. It is 
quite common throughout 
most of its territory and 
along with its relative the 
Squirrel Corn, page 122, 
frequently takes possession 
of considerable areas. 
The delicate smooth 
stems arise 5-10 inches high 
from a cluster of small per- 
ennial tubers packed so 
closely together as to have 
the appearance of a scaly 
bulb. The feathery ternate- 
ly compound, basal leaves 
are slender petioled and a 
shade lighter green beneath. 
The plant receives its 
common name from the 
white or occasionally pink-tinted, dainty and yellow-tipped 
flowers, which remind one of a pair of inverted pantaloons. The 
2 leglike spurs are petals modified into this peculiar shape. Two 
other, narrow and smaller petals are at right angles to the larger, 
with their tips extended to form an arch over the 6 yellow 
stamens. There are only 2 sepals, very small and scalelike. The 
pistil has a very slender style and a 2-lobed stigma. These deli- 
cate flowers, 1-10 on a single stalk, appear in April and May and 
should be looked for in rich woods. 
The daisy’s bloom on the meadow’s breast, 
The wandering bee 
And his ceaseless quest 
Of the tempting sweets in the clover’s crest, 
Are the joys of a summer morning. 2 i 
The Joys of a Summer Morning—HENERY A. WISE Woop 
121 
