Dutchman’s breeches, blue staggers, Dicentra cucullaria
Dutchman’s breeches, blue staggers, Dicentra cucullaria
Scientific Name:
Dicentra cucullaria
Common Name:
Dutchman's breeches, blue staggers
Scientific Name Pronounciation:
dye-SEN-truh kew-kew-LAR-ee-uh
Plant Type:
Perennial
Plant Hardiness Zones:
3-7
Plant Hardiness Zone(s):
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
Usual Size:
Flower:
each about ¾”, resembling yellow-waisted white pantaloons that dangle with the ankles facing up from a leafless stem
Bloom Time Notes:
Early Spring
Leaf:
Blue-green, basal, finely dissected and fern-like
Fruit:
A two-part seed capsule, pollinated by bees; seeds contain an eliasome that promotes dispersal by ants
Wildlife:
Natural Habitat:
Rich, moist, humus-y, well-drained soils of wooded mountain coves and deciduous forests
Propagation:
Seed or division of “bulblets”
Bloom Time:
- Spring
Sun or Shade:
- Shade
Companion Plants:
Cultural Notes:
Cultural notes: Sometimes known as blue staggers because of its narcotic and occasionally lethal effects on grazing cattle
The species is a spring ephemeral. In summer’s heat, the leaves turn yellow and disappear, to re-emerge the following spring from a bulb-like corm.