BLEEDING HEART FAMILY. Fumariaceae* 



BLEEDING HEART FAMILY. Fumariaceae. 



A small family, widely distributed; very smooth, tender, 

 perennial herbs, with watery juice; alternate, compound 

 leaves, finely cut, lobed and fringed into many divisions, 

 and irregular, perfect flowers, of peculiar shape, with two, 

 scale-like sepals, and four petals, the inner pair narrower 

 than the outer and united by their tips over the stamens 

 and style. The six stamens are in two, equal sets, the 

 filaments of each set somewhat united, the middle anther 

 of each set with two cells, tne others with only one. The 

 superior ovary develops into a long, dry, one-celled capsule, 

 containing shiny, black seeds. This family has been 

 united to the Poppies by Bentham and Hooker, because 

 the plan of the flowers is similar, though their appearance 

 is unlike. 



There are several kinds of Bicuculla, natives of North 

 America and Asia; perennials, with beautiful foliage and 

 decorative flowers, of the curious and intricate shape we 

 are familiar with in old-fashioned gardens. The pedicels 

 have two bracts; the corolla is heart-shaped at base; the 

 outer pair of petals are oblong and concave, with spreading 

 tips and spurred or pouched at base, the inner pair are 

 narrow and clawed, with crests or wings on the back; the 

 style is slender, with a two-lobed stigma, each lobe with 

 two crests. The creeping rootstock is surrounded by a 

 bulb-like cluster of fleshy grains. These plants are often 

 called Dutchman's Breeches, from the shape of the flower, 

 which, of course, also gives the pretty name Bleeding Heart. 

 Bicuculla is from the Latin, meaning "double-hooded." 



This is a very beautiful and interesting 

 Bleeding Heart 



Bicuculla formosa P lant > about two feet tall Wlth delicate 

 (Dicentra) pale-green leaves, beautifully cut and 



Knk lobed, all from the root, with very long 



CaC'oreg^Wash. leaf " StalkS> and a feW ' g raceful Sprays of 



purplish-pink flowers, each about three~ 



quarters of an inch long. This has a fleshy, spreading 



