Bloodroot
By Anita Carpenter
Spring in a maple woods is a burst of pastel colors – lavender, pink, yellow, green, and white. Spring ephemerals, the name given to early, fast-growing, short-lived flowers, carpet the forest floor from April into May. They must bloom before the maple leaves unfurl and block the incoming sunlight.
One of the earliest spring ephemerals to appear is bloodroot, a diminutive plant with an unusual name and a uniquely shaped leaf. Bloodroot’s daisy-like flower is so short-lived that I feel I might miss its beauty if I pause to blink. Each bloodroot plant gives rise to a single white flower. Perched atop a leafless stem, bloodroot reaches an astonishing height of 3 to 6 inches. Each blossom displays eight to twelve wax-like petals and measures up to 1-1/2 inches across. Many yellowish-orange stamens surround a hidden stigma that makes up its “button” center. The flower responds to sunlight and temperature – opening on sunny days and closing at night as the temperature drops. The flower may last only one to two days.
Bloodroot has one leaf per plant. When the leaf first appears, it is small and wrapped around the flower stem. The leaf uncurls after the flower blooms and pollination has occurred. The leaf continues to grow, eventually reaching nine inches across and persists on the landscape into summer.
The round leaf, botanically described as orbicular, deserves a closer look. Standing upright, it is deeply notched where it attaches to the leaf stalk. The leaf is deeply lobed into three to nine sections with wavy irregular edges. The one-of-a-kind leaf is beautifully artistic and could be the inspiration for a fine doily placed under a teacup at a formal party.
Bloodroot is pollinated by insects, but the only reward for the visiting insect is pollen, because no nectar is produced. This pollen-only strategy is more attractive to pollen-gathering bees. In the chilly temperatures of early spring, bumblebees are the likely pollinators.
If for some reason the flower is not pollinated by day three, the plant will self-pollinate. Bloodroot has an interesting adaptation that first avoids self-pollination and then encourages it. Up until day three, the pollen-laden anthers bend outward toward the flower’s outer edge to avoid self-pollination. On or after day three, the anthers bend toward the flower’s center where pollen may drift or fall onto the receptive stigma. I wondered, how does the plant “know” when two or three days have passed? Is there a chemical reaction or a physiological trigger that causes the anthers to turn from leaning outward to leaning inward? If only bloodroot could speak.
After pollination and maturation have occurred, a long, narrow seed pod splits open in June, revealing rows of tiny, dark-brown seeds. Ants collect and carry the seeds back to their nests. Here, the seeds may germinate and start a new plant.
How did bloodroot get its name? (Please do not pick a flower to view this!) Bloodroot has red sap. Why is it red? Chemists discovered a naturally occurring alkaloid, sanguinarine, that is not found in other plants. As a pure crystal, the alkaloid is colorless. However, in plant tissues, the alkaloid occurs as a soluble acid-alkaloid salt that, when dissolved in plant fluid, produces a red color.
One might assume that blood root was given its scientific name, (Sanguinaria canadensis) after the discovery of the alkaloid. But the plant was named much earlier by Linnaeus in the 1700s, before chemists could isolate alkaloids. The red sap probably reminded Linnaeus of blood. The genus name, Sanguinaria, is derived from Latin, sanguis, meaning blood. Later when chemists isolated the alkaloid, they probably named it sanguinaria after the plant’s genus name.
If you chance upon bloodroot in your springtime wanderings, bend down for a closer look. Since plants arise from points along a spreading underground rhizome, large bloodroot colonies may be found. Bloodroot is in the poppy plant family, Papaveraceae. It has the distinction of being the only species in the genus Sanguinaria, at least in the eastern United States and Canada. Blooming for just a few days, the delicate flower and lobed leaf are welcome signs that spring has arrived in the north woods. ∂
Happy Earth Day!
Why do we celebrate Earth Day on April 22? The date stems from an earlier observance, Arbor Day. This year’s focus is “Our Power, Our Planet.”
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