BLOODROOT
Sanguinaria canadensis
POPPY FAMILY (Papaveraceae)
Identification
- Flowering time - April
- Common in upland woods and ravines
- Large, lobed leaf initially wrapped around the flower, unfolding as flower emerges
- Showy flower with 8 petals and yellow center
- Often forms large colonies
This native perennial is found in colonies. The leaf is rolled around the flower bud and stalk when it first emerges (B,C). Later, the leaves open to large, lobed disks up to 8 inches across (D). The flowers are about 1 inch across, with 8 pure white petals and a golden-yellow center consisting of many individual pollen bearing stamens (E,G). Alternating broad and narrow petals often give the flowers a square appearance when fully open (F). The flowers and leaves face the sun during the day and close at night. Fruit is a pea-pod shaped capsule (H), which eventually splits open releasing the seeds.
Common on wooded upland slopes and ravines at Neale Woods. Perhaps a bit less common, but usually fairly easy to find at Fontenelle Forest. Bloodroot is one of the earliest and most elegant flowers to unfold before us when little else is blooming. By mid-summer the leaves have withered and no trace of the plant remains above ground.
Native Americans used the red sap from the lower stem and roots as a dye. The genus name is derived from sanguis, the Latin word for blood, a reference to its red sap.
Like Bloodroot, many of our spring wildflowers have an interesting method of seed dispersal. Seeds have a fleshy organ called an elaiosome which is attractive to ants. The ants take the elaiosome to the nest where they eat it, but not the seed, which ends up in the nest debris where it is protected until germination
The content of NatureSearch is provided by dedicated volunteer Naturalists of Fontenelle Forest who strive to provide the most accurate information available. Contributors of the images retain their copyrights. The point of contact for this page is: Roland Barth.