''Dicentra peregrina'' (

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

コマクサ ''komakusa'') is a

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

growing from a

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

, native to mountains in Japan and nearby areas of

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

Etymology

The

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

name ''peregrina'' is

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for "exotic, alien, foreign, strange, from foreign lands", possibly because the species is the only one of its

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

outside of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. In Japanese, the plant (''kusa'') is named for the buds, which look like the head of a horse (''koma''). コマクサ komakusa on Japanese Wikipedia, :ja:コマクサ

Description

Leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are gray-green,

glaucous ''Glaucous'' (, ) is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus''), glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens''), g ...

, and deeply cut, with linear lobes.

Flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s have four rose-purple, pink, cream, pale yellow, or white

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s and two tiny

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s. Outer petals are pouched at the base and strongly bent back at the ends. Inner petals are long and protruding, connected at the end. File:Dicentra peregrina leaves.JPG, A plant in early spring before flowering on

Mount Ontake , also referred to as , is the 14th highest mountain and second highest volcano in Japan (after Mount Fuji) at . It is included in ''100 Famous Japanese Mountains''. Description Mt. Ontake is located around northeast of Nagoya, and around 200& ...

Dicentra peregrina bud.JPG, A plant in bud Dicentra peregrina 02.jpg, A plant with many flowers Dicentra peregrina White Komakusa in Tsubakurodake 2002-7-27.jpg, White form on

Mount Tsubakuro is a mountain in Azumino, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. It is situated in Japan's Hida Mountains in Nagano Prefecture. It was specified for Chūbu-Sangaku National Park on December 4, 1934. Granite forms the unique body with white sands and sharp r ...

Nagano Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,052,493 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Dicentra peregrina seed in Mount Ontake 2011-09-18.jpg, A broken pod with seed

Ecology

''Komakusa'' grows in

, the

Kuril Islands The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands (; rus, Кури́льские острова́, r=Kuril'skiye ostrova, p=kʊˈrʲilʲskʲɪjə ɐstrɐˈva; Japanese: or ) are a volcanic archipelago currently administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the ...

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...

Island, and northeastern

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

, including the

Kamchatka Peninsula The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and we ...

. It favors gravelly soil at high altitudes, , in

alpine tundra Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated alpine climate, harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alp ...

. Dicentra peregrina 03.jpg, Gravelly alpine area scattered with ''komakusa'' on

Mount Yari is one of the 100 Famous Japanese Mountains. The peak lies in the southern part of the Hida Mountains (Northern Alps) of Japan, on the border of Ōmachi and Matsumoto in Nagano Prefecture and Takayama in Gifu Prefecture. The priest Banry� ...

in the

Hida Mountains The , or , is a Japanese mountain range which stretches through Nagano, Toyama and Gifu prefectures. A small portion of the mountains also reach into Niigata Prefecture. William Gowland coined the phrase "Japanese Alps" during his time in Japan, ...

Dicentra peregrina in Mount Norikura s3.JPG, ''Komakusa'' plants on

Mount Norikura is a potentially active volcano located on the borders of Gifu and Nagano prefectures in Japan. It is part of the Hida Mountains and is listed among the 100 Famous Japanese Mountains and the New 100 Famous Japanese Mountains. Outline The moun ...

Komakusa1.jpg, A deep pink ''komakusa'' in bloom with mountain as background

Cultivars

There are several hybrid cultivars, cultivated as

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

s, involving ''

Dicentra eximia ''Dicentra eximia'' (wild or fringed bleeding-heart, turkey-corn) is a flowering plant with fernlike leaves and oddly shaped flowers native to the Appalachian Mountains. It is similar to the Pacific bleeding-heart (''Dicentra formosa''), which gr ...

'', ''

Dicentra formosa ''Dicentra formosa'' (western, wild or Pacific bleeding heart) is a flowering plant with fern-like leaves and an inflorescence of drooping pink, purple, yellow or cream flowers native to the Pacific Coast of North America.Sierra Nevada Wildflower ...

'', and '' Dicentra nevadensis''. *''Dicentra'' 'Candy Hearts' (''D. eximia'' × ''D. peregrina'')
rose-pink flowers *''Dicentra'' 'Gothenburg' (''D. formosa'' subsp. ''oregana'' × ''D. peregrina'' f. ''alba'') – light pink flowers *''Dicentra'' 'Ivory Hearts' (''D. eximia'' × ''D. peregrina'')
white flowers *''Dicentra'' 'King of Hearts' – ''D. peregrina'' × (''D. formosa'' subsp. ''oregana'' × ''D. eximia'')
pink flowers *''Dicentra'' 'Luxuriant' (''D. eximia'' × ''D. peregrina'')
cherry-red flowers *''Dicentra'' 'Tsuneshigo Rokujo' (''D. nevadensis'' × ''D. peregrina'')
pink flowers Dicentra 'King of Hearts' and 'Ivory Hearts'.jpg, ''Dicentra'' 'King of Hearts' Dicentra 'Ivory Hearts' and 'King of Hearts'.jpg, ''Dicentra'' 'Ivory Hearts'

References

* Bleeding hearts, Corydalis, and their relatives. Mark Tebbitt, Magnus Lidén, and Henrik Zetterlund. Timber Press. 2008. �
Google Books

External links

Pacific Bulb Society: ''Dicentra peregrina''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1407467 peregrina Flora of Northeast Asia Flora of Japan Flora of Siberia Garden plants of Asia