70 
Journal of Agricultural Research voi. xxiii, No. 
SYSTEMATIC POSITION OF “LITTLE STAGGERWEEDS’ ’ 
BIKUKULLA 
Perennial and smooth herbs with basal temately compound, dissected 
delicate leaves; watery juice; horizontal rootstocks and scapose, race¬ 
mose, nodding inflorescence. Flowers flattened, either deciduous or 
withering persistent. Pedicels 2-bracted. Sepals 2, scalelike. Petals 
4, the two outer spurred at base, loosely united; the two inner pair 
narrower, and their callous-crested tips united over the stigmas. Sta¬ 
mens 6, in two groups opposite the outer petals, hypogynous; their fila¬ 
ments often united; middle anthers of each set 2-celled, the lateral ones 
i-celled. Pod 10 to 20 seeds, seeds crested. 
A genus of about 13 species, ranging across North America to Eastern 
Asia. Six species are known on the Pacific slope of America and 3 on 
the Atlantic watershed. 
The bleeding heart {Bikukulla spectabilis (L.) Coville) of the gardens 
is an Asiatic species. 
KEY TO ATLANTIC SPECIES 
Racemes simple; rootstocks tuber-bearing. 
Rootstocks long, with scattered cornlike, yellow tubers; flowers cordate; spurs 
rounded; inner petals conspicuously crested.1. B. canadensis. 
Rootstocks much shortened; tubers gathered in a scaly, granulated bulb, white, 
becoming pink and dark red; flowers sagittate; spurs spreading, elongated; 
inner petals minutely crested... 2. B. cucullaria. 
Racemes compound; rootstocks scaly, not tuber-bearing.3. B. eximia. 
1. Bikukulla canadensis (Goldie) Millsp. Squirrel-corn. Turkey- 
corn. Turkey-pea. Little blue stagger. Trembling stagger. Stagger- 
weed. Colicweed. Wild hyacinth. 
Foliage bright green; scapes erect 6 to 12 inches high, overtopping 
the leaves; flowers greenish white, tinged with pink. On vegetable 
mold in woods. April and May. Nova Scotia, Ontario, Minnesota, 
Missouri, and south along the mountains to North Carolina and Tennessee. 
In Virginia it occurs abundantly on northern slopes in the Alleghany 
Mountains and often in the Blue Ridge. 
It rises to 4,500 feet altitude on White Top Mountain, although it 
seems most at home in the neighborhood of 3,000 feet. Gorge of the 
Potomac above Washington. Rare. 
2. Bikukulla cucullaria (L.) Millsp. Dutchman’s-breeches. Little 
blue stagger. Trembling stagger. Staggerweed. Colicweed. Soldier’s- 
cap. Whitehearts. Indian boy-and-girls. Butterfly banners, etc. 
Foliage often glaucescent; scapes 6 to 12 inches high, usually overtopped 
by the leaves; flowers white with yellowish tips. April and May. 
On vegetable mold in the woods. Growing in Virginia with Bikukulla 
canadensis and Delphinium tricorne but usually preferring better drained 
soil than the former. Nova Scotia, Ontario, Minnesota, Nebraska, 
Kansas, and Missouri, and south in the mountains to Alabama. Common 
on the northern slopes of the Alleghany Mountains and often in the 
Blue Ridge, being more abundant around 3,000 feet altitude and rising 
on White Top Mountain to about 4,500 feet. Gorge of the Potomac 
above Washington. 
3. Bikukulla eximia (Ker) Millsp. Wild bleeding heart. Stagger- 
weed. Turkey-corn. 
