One of my all-time favorite plants. It blooms for pretty much the whole growing season, and the flowers have a fascinating shape. The leaves are also attractive. It grows in a thick clump, and spreads slowly by branching rhizomes.

Bumblebees love to visit the flowers. They're pretty much the only bees strong enough to push apart the petals and reach the nectar in the pouches at the top of the flower near the stem. Sometimes you can see which flowers they've visited, because the petals have a gap between them. Mason bees also visit the flowers.

The plant is technically in the poppy family, but the flowers are very odd and look nothing like poppies. However, they actually have four petals, like a poppy. When you look at the flatter side of the flower, the two outer petals are the parts on either side that have bent-back tips. The two inner petals are the ones that form the center of the flower, the part that points downwards. They look like they are just one piece, but if you pull apart the flower, you can see there are two parts that are joined together at the tip, positioned crossways (perpendicular) to the outer petals. The stamens and carpel are between them. The carpel is green and fairly fat, and it changes into a seedpod when the flower is pollinated.

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Dicentra eximia, the Appalachian species of bleeding-heart, is often confused with Pacific Bleeding Heart (Dicentra formosa subsp. formosa) , and Dicentra formosa and hybrids with Dicentra formosa are often sold as Dicentra eximia. The difference is in the flower shape. Dicentra eximia has slender flowers with longer outer petal tips that are bent back farther, while Dicentra formosa has fatter flowers with shorter petal tips that are not bent back as far.

Dicentra eximia is tolerant of hot and humid summers (unlike Dicentra formosa), and the flowers have a slight jasmine-like fragrance, which can be smelled on warm and still days, or if you lean down to the flowers.

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Very reliable plant that returns every year loyally, spreads nicely too without becoming invasive. beautiful lace like foliage and delicate flowers, blooms for a very long time, I love this plant!

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