Dutchman's breeches
| Dicentra cucullaria | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| Order: | Ranunculales |
| Family: | Papaveraceae |
| Subfamily: | Fumarioideae |
| Genus: | Dicentra |
| Species: | D. cucullaria |
| Binomial name | |
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Dicentra cucullaria (L.) Bernh. |
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| Natural range in North America | |
Dicentra cucullaria (Dutchman's breeches) is a perennial herbaceous plant, native to rich woods of eastern North America, with a disjunct population in the Columbia Basin.
The common name Dutchman's breeches derives from their white flowers that look like white breeches.
The is a cluster of small pink to white teardrop-shaped bulblets (more precisely, miniature tubers). Leaves are 10–36 cm (4–14 1⁄4 in) long and 4–18 cm (1 1⁄2–7 in) broad, with a petiole (leaf stalk) 5–24 cm (2–9 1⁄2 in) long. They are trifoliate, with finely divided leaflets.
The flowers usually white, rarely suffused with pink, 1–2 cm (1⁄2–3⁄4 in) long. They are produced in early spring in racemes of 3 to 14 flowers on peduncles (flower stalks) 12–25 cm (4 3⁄4–9 3⁄4 in) long. Unlike the closely related Dicentra canadensis (squirrel corn), the flowers lack fragrance.
The pistil of a pollinated flower develops into a slender pod 7–16 mm (1⁄4–5⁄8 in) long and 3–5 mm (1⁄8–3⁄16 in), narrowed to a point on both ends. The pod splits in half when the seeds are ripe. The seeds are kidney-shaped, with a faint netlike pattern. Each one has a fleshy organ called an elaiosome that attracts ants. Dutchman's breeches is one of many plants whose seeds are spread by ants, a process called myrmecochory. The ants take the seeds to their nest, where they eat the elaiosomes, and put the seeds in their nest debris, where they are protected until they germinate. They also get the added bonus of growing in a medium made richer by the ant nest debris.
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Wikipedia