North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Dicentra eximia

Dicentra eximia (Ker Gawl.) Torr.

wild bleeding-heart, turkey corn, wild bleeding heart

Synonym(s): Bicuculla eximia

Image ID: 7348
Image by: Parkins, Grant Morrow
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: DIEX
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Dicentra eximia
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2018-08-17

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: DICEN
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Dicentra
GENUS AUTHORITY: Bernh.
GENUS COMMON: Bleeding heart
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 12 species, perennial herbs, with a relictual north temperate distribution: e. North America, w. North America, and e. Asia.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Stern in FNA (1997); Stern (1961)=Z; Lidén in Kubitzki, Rohwer, & Bittrich (1993).

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: FUMARI
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Fumariaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: A.P. de Candolle 1821
FAMILY COMMON: Fumitory Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: This family includes 15-20 genera and 500-600 species, herbs, mostly north temperate. The Fumariaceae are often now subsumed into the Papaveraceae and separated as subfamilies (Lidén 1981, 1986; Lidén et al. 1997; Judd, Sanders, & Donoghue 1994), but the option remains to recognize the two monophyletic clades as families: Papaveracaeae s.s. and Fumariaceae. The placement of Pteridophyllum (especially) and Hypecoum in their own families or basal in either Papaveraceae or Fumariaceae remains unsettled.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Pérez-Gutiérrez et al. (2012, 2015); Wang et al. (2009); Stern in FNA (1997); Hill (1992); Lidén (1986, 1981); Lidén et al. (1997); Lidén in Kubitzki, Rohwer, & Bittrich (1993).

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Erect, rhizomatous (no bulblets) perennial growing on cliffs, rocky slopes and rock outcrops associated with rich, moist forests; may form mounds up to 3 ft. wide.
STEMS: Stems hollow at maturity, smooth.
LEAVES: Leaves alternate, petiolate, oval in general outline, 2-8 in. long, finely divided into many pale green (white-waxy), toothed segments (fern-like).
INFLORESCENCE: Panicle of dangling, magenta-pink, tubular, flowers rise just above the foliage; .
FLOWERS: Flowers dangling from a panicle on a separate scape overtopping the leaves; magenta-pink (rarely white); Â¾ in. long; bilaterally symmetric and tubular, with a flattened heart shape opening to 2 spreading-recurved lips facing downward.
FRUITS: Fruit an oblong-oval capsule.
COMMENTS: An Appalachian endemic species.
HEIGHT: 1-2 ft.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate
LEAF COMPLEXITY:
LEAF RETENTION: Evergreen

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Bilateral (Zygomorphic)
BLOOM TIME: Apr-Jul

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
		x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR: Pink (occasionally white)

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
x		x						x

FRUITING PERIOD: July-Aug.

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Moist forests, Outcrops and glades
NATIVE RANGE: eastern United States

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text: Racemes of pink or white flowers contrast beautifully with its pale green fern-like foliage. In the wild, this plant grows on wooded slopes with filtered sunlight. Well-established plants bloom over a period of many weeks. Wild bleeding-heart can be prominently featured in your garden since it is attractive from spring through fall. This native perennial may be naturalized in the woodland garden or massed in a more formal perennial border.

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average, Moist/Wet
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade, Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 4
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 9
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE: Bee Friendly
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
173	HORT	2007-05-22	Bryan	View
1337	HORT	2006-05-04	Bryan	View
1716	HORT	2005-01-01	Bryan	View

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
172	2008-0348	2017-07-02	173	View
7522	2000-0282	2000-09-19		View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
344	172	137	Liloia	2008-07-16	View
10561	7522	146	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
10562	7522	80	NCBG staff	1967-12-31	View
10563	7522	131	NCBG staff	1967-12-31	View
10564	7522	11	NCBG staff	1986-12-31	View
10565	7522	27	NCBG staff	1986-12-31	View
10566	7522	79	NCBG staff	1986-12-31	View
10567	7522	189	NCBG staff	1986-12-31	View
10568	7522	8	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
10569	7522	137	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
10570	7522	83	NCBG staff	1988-10-01	View
10571	7522	119	NCBG staff	1999-05-15	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: DIEX
USDA Common Name: Turkey Corn
Native Status: L48 (N)
Distribution: USA (GA, IL, MA, MD, MI, NC, NJ, NY, OH, PA, SC, TN, VA, VT, WV)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

2018 Natural Heritage Program List of Rare Plant Species of North Carolina

NHP ID	S RANK	ROUNDED S RANK	G RANK	ROUNDED G RANK	STATE STATUS	FEDERAL STATUS
19024	S3	S3	G4	G4	SR-P

This information is derived from the 2018 North Carolina Natural Heritage Program List of Rare Plant Species.

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Dicentra eximia
COMMON NAME: Wild Bleeding Heart
SYNONYMY: [= C, F, FNA, G, K, Pa, RAB, Va, W, WV; = Bicuculla eximia (Ker-Gawler) Millspaugh - S]
PHENOLOGY: Apr-Jul; Jul-Aug.
HABITAT: Cliffs, talus slopes, rocky slopes, rock outcrops, shale slopes.
COMMENTS: An Appalachian endemic: NY and NJ south to NC, SC (Gaddy et al. 1984), and TN.
RANGE MAP: Dicentra eximia.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Fumariaceae A.P. de Candolle 1821 (Fumitory Family)
SUMMARY: This family includes 15-20 genera and 500-600 species, herbs, mostly north temperate. The Fumariaceae are often now subsumed into the Papaveraceae and separated as subfamilies (Lidén 1981, 1986; Lidén et al. 1997; Judd, Sanders, & Donoghue 1994), but the option remains to recognize the two monophyletic clades as families: Papaveracaeae s.s. and Fumariaceae. The placement of Pteridophyllum (especially) and Hypecoum in their own families or basal in either Papaveraceae or Fumariaceae remains unsettled.
REFERENCE: Pérez-Gutiérrez et al. (2012, 2015); Wang et al. (2009); Stern in FNA (1997); Hill (1992); Lidén (1986, 1981); Lidén et al. (1997); Lidén in Kubitzki, Rohwer, & Bittrich (1993).

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Dicentra Bernh. (Bleeding heart)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 12 species, perennial herbs, with a relictual north temperate distribution: e. North America, w. North America, and e. Asia.
REFERENCE: Stern in FNA (1997); Stern (1961)=Z; Lidén in Kubitzki, Rohwer, & Bittrich (1993).

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Dicentra eximia in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Dicentra eximia in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Dicentra eximia in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Dicentra eximia in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Dicentra eximia in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Dicentra eximia

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 7348 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 19527 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 5149 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)