Pacific Bleeding Heart Flowers

April Flowers Types of Flowers Pacific Northwest Flowers Coltsfoot Fairy Bells Fawn Lily Larkspur Miner's Lettuce Prairie Star Seapink Shooting Star Snowqueen Tall Bluebells

The Pacific Bleeding Heart (Dicentra formosa) is a common native West Coast flowering plant found from Canada, south through California.

It's a member of the family Fumariaceae, a small family of plants with a handful of species represented in the United States.

Three different Fumariaceae genera are known as bleeding hearts. Plants in the dicentra genus, including the Pacific Bleeding Heart, are native plants that can be found throughout the United States. Plants in the genus Lamprocapnos, found only in the Eastern United States, are introduced species.

The plant usually grows less than two feet above the ground. The pink, heart-shaped flowers attract hummingbirds, and it is a good idea to leave the plant to hummingbirds because it is considered toxic to humans.

© 2008 Patricia A. Michaels