Lamprocapnos spectabilis (bleeding heart or Asian bleeding-heart) is a species of flowering plant in the poppy family Papaveraceae, native to Siberia, northern China, Korea and Japan. It is the sole species in the monotypic genus Lamprocapnos, but is still widely referenced under its old name Dicentra spectabilis (now listed as a synonym). It is valued in gardens and in floristry for its heart-shaped pink and white flowers, borne in spring.
Other common names include "Dutchman's breeches", "lyre flower" and "lady-in-a-bath".
Asian bleeding-heart grows to 120 cm (47 in) tall by 45 cm (18 in) wide. It is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial with 3-lobed compound leaves on fleshy green to pink stems. The arching horizontal racemes of up to 20 pendent flowers are borne in spring and early summer. The outer petals are bright fuchsia-pink, while the inner ones are white.
The flowers strikingly resemble the conventional heart shape, with a droplet beneath - hence the common name. The pure white-flowered 'Alba', somewhat more robust than the species, is a popular cultivar.
The plant sometimes behaves as a spring ephemeral, going dormant in summer.
First plants specimens were introduced into England in the 1840s from Asia by the Scottish botanist and plant hunter Robert Fortune.
There is also a latest legend from Japan which tells a story of how the bleeding heart flower came to be.
In the story, a young man tried to win the love of a young lady. He did this by giving a pair of rabbits (which are the first two petals of the flower), a pair of earrings (which are the next two petals of the flower), and finally a pair of slippers (which are the last two petals of the flower) to the girl. She continued to reject his affections, and, heart-broken, he pierced his heart with his sword (the middle part of the flower), which caused the bleeding heart.
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