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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 celis, the 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 ; i 
oe > plant, about two feet tall, with delicate 
Bicucilla formosa 
(Dicentra) pale-green leaves, beautifully cut and 
Pink lobed, all from the root, with very long 
Summer 
leaf-stalks, and a few, graceful sprays of 
purplish-pink flowers, each about three- 
quarters of an inch long. This has a fleshy, spreading 
Cal., Oreg., Wash. 
168 
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