Longhorn Steer's-Head

Dicentra uniflora

''Dicentra uniflora'' is a herbaceous perennial growing from a tuber, native to gravelly soils in mountains of the western United States.
Steer's heads fleeting, tiny and hard to find - people do certain hikes out here just to see these little guys. They are related to bleeding hearts, but are much smaller grow in rocky soil near mountain tops and bloom just after the snow melts (look in the most soil near any little remains of snowbanks to find them). Their dusky pink color often blends in, rather than stands out from the bare soil that they prefer, and even the sharp eyed can walk right by them. I even spotted some that I did not see on my way up the trail, on my way back down, in a place where I actually expected them - they hide well.. Dicentra uniflora,Geotagged,Spring,United States

Appearance

Height is up to 10 centimetres. Leaves are leaves are long-stalked and 3-times compound with rounded leaflets. Each leaflet is deeply divided.

Flowers have pink to white petals tinged with light brown or purple. The two outer petals are bent back; the inner petals are fused at the tip.

Seeds are borne in a capsule a little more than a 1 centimetre long.

References:

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Taxonomy
KingdomPlantae
DivisionAngiosperms
ClassEudicots
OrderRanunculales
FamilyPapaveraceae
GenusDicentra
SpeciesD. uniflora
Photographed in
United States of America