Bleeding-Hearts, Wild And Tame

Day 213: Sigh. I hadn't planned this post to be another essay on taxonomy (and I'll keep this portion brief), but Bleeding-Hearts, wild and tame, have been a subject of some debate for some time. The waters seem to have reached their own levels at this point, or at least I hope so. Our wild Pacific Bleeding-Heart (left) is still classified as Dicentra formosa, but the Asian Bleeding-Heart (right), coveted for the colour it adds to the shade garden, has been renamed Lamprocapnos spectabilis, although it is still marketed as Dicentra in many places. The native plant bears significantly smaller flowers in a single panicle, as opposed to the horizontal racemes of Lamprocapnos, many of which branch from the main stem and justify the "spectabilis" portion of the scientific name quite admirably. Both have brittle root systems, and thus should not be moved once they are established. Hummingbirds are attracted to the pink flowers and may assist pollination, but the chief pollinators of either type of plant are long-tongued butterflies and bees. Abundant in the forests of my childhood, Pacific Bleeding-Heart is not seen as frequently now, and I feel a slight sense of guilt for all the "hearts" I popped in my youth. If only we had had bubble-wrap in those days!