Sanguinaria canadensis

Bloodroot flowers are 1.5-3″ across with 8-16 (typically 8) bright white petals, numerous stamens with golden yellow anthers, and an oval, green pistil with a pale yellow, two-lobed stigma at its tip. Two light green sepals are present in the floral bud but they drop off as soon as the flower begins to open. After fertilization, the ovary expands into a spindle-shaped seed capsule about 1″ long, yellow when mature, that splits to release the seeds. The seeds are disbursed by ants that are attracted by the white, fleshy appendage (an elaiosome) on the bright red seed. The red sap is highly toxic, both externally and internally —€” it inhibits the cellular Na+/K+ ATPase enzyme and kills the cells. Avoid getting the sap on your skin and certainly avoid getting it in your eyes or on mucous membranes.

Bloodroot is one of the early spring ephemerals, a native species that produces showy, brilliant white blooms before the trees leaf out. It is a relatively short plant (3-12″) with an unusual growth habit. Bloodroot produces only basal leaves. In early spring (March-April), a single basal leaf emerges that is wrapped around a flower stalk and its single bud; only after the flower has completed blooming do the leaves unfurl, flatten out, and the petiole further elongates. The leaves are kidney-shaped to round in gross outline, about 5″ in diameter, with 5-9 major lobes; the veins in the leaf are reticulated (net-like) in a palmate pattern. The upper leaf surface is light bluish green; the lower surface is a whitish green with a glabrous bloom (like a plum).

Bloodroot is one of the early spring ephemerals, a native species that produces showy, brilliant white blooms before the trees leaf out. It is a relatively short plant (3-12″) with an unusual growth habit. Bloodroot produces only basal leaves. In early spring (March-April), a single basal leaf emerges that is wrapped around a flower stalk and its single bud; only after the flower has completed blooming do the leaves unfurl, flatten out, and the petiole further elongates. The leaves are kidney-shaped to round in gross outline, about 5″ in diameter, with 5-9 major lobes; the veins in the leaf are reticulated (net-like) in a palmate pattern. The upper leaf surface is light bluish green; the lower surface is a whitish green with a glabrous bloom (like a plum). The flower stalks are 3-4″ tall when the flower begins to open. Bloodroot flowers are 1.5-3″ across with 8-16 (typically 8) bright white petals, numerous stamens with golden yellow anthers, and an oval, green pistil with a pale yellow, two-lobed stigma at its tip. Two light green sepals are present in the floral bud but they drop off as soon as the flower begins to open. After fertilization, the ovary expands into a spindle-shaped seed capsule about 1″ long, yellow when mature, that splits to release the seeds. The seeds are disbursed by ants that are attracted by the white, fleshy appendage (an elaiosome) on the bright red seed. Bloodroot is the only species in its genus. The red sap is highly toxic, both externally and internally —€” it inhibits the cellular Na+/K+ ATPase enzyme and kills the cells. Avoid getting the sap on your skin and certainly avoid getting it in your eyes or on mucous membranes.