Dicentra

Dicentra (Greek dís "twice", kéntron "spur"), known collectively as the bleeding-hearts, is a genus containing eight species of herbaceous flowering perennial plants with unique, "heart"-shaped flowers and finely divided foliage. The species are, primarily, native to North America, although several are found in temperate East Asia.

==Description and growth requirements == Flowers have two tiny sepals and four petals. The flowers are bisymmetric: the two outer petals are spurred or pouched at the base and curved outwards or backwards at the tip, and the two inner ones with or without a crest at the tip. In Dicentra, all leaves are in a basal rosette, and flowers are on leafless stalks. In other genera with bisymmetric heart-shaped flowers (Lamprocapnos, Dactylicapnos, Ichtyoselmis, Ehrendorferia), leaves grow on stems as well as from the root. Each of the two compound stamens is composed of one median and two lateral half stamens fused together. The stamens and pistil are held between the inner petals.