Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council Plants Resource Page

Plant of the Month - Yellow Bleeding Heart

Perezia, Sacapellote

Yellow Bleeding Heart

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Plant Description

Common Name(s):Yellow Bleeding Heart
Scientific Name:Ehrendorferia ochroleuca
Family:Papaveraceae
Plant Type:Perennial
Size:up to 15 feet!
Habitat:Chaparral, Oak Woodland
Blooms:April to December

Yellow Bleeeding Heart or Ehrendorferia ochroleuca - This member of the Poppy family is a fire-follower and does not germinate without being exposed to smoke. The 2013 Springs Fire brought this plant back from seeds stored in the soil. After a couple of years we are unlikely to see this plant until the next fire.

The flowers on this perennial herb are white with a beautiful filling of red - it is the two inner petals which are joined at the tip that have the red filling . All parts of the plant are toxic. The bright red color in the petal is a draw for Hummingbirds. This plant blooms well after the first flowers of Spring - May to to June. Look for this in the canyon bottoms of Sycamore and Blue Canyon (Pt. Mugu State Park) all the way to the summit of Boney Mountain! I saw this plant in late June while hiking in Upper Sycamore Canyon of Point Mugu State Park. Lastly, this plant is endemic to California - it grows nowhere else!
Our plant of the month grows leaves from the flower stalks as well as the base. In comparison, other Bleeding Heart flowers of the Genus Dicentra have leaves in a basal rosette with flowers on leafless stalks. Basal rosette means the leaves grow in a circular arrangement from the base of the plant.
The leaves of this plant are pinnately divided 2-4 times - according to Wikipedia: pinnately refers to the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis.
Name Origin: This plant was named after Friedrich Ehrendorfer a 20th Century Austrian Botanist. Ochroleuca means yellowish-white. This used to be known as Dicentra Ehrendorferia but was changed during a re-classification.
Other Similar Plants:
Prickly Poppy Argemone munita
California Poppy Eschscholzia californica
Matilija Poppy Romneya coulteri
Fire Poppy Papaver californicum
Bush Poppy, Tree Poppy Dendromecon rigida
Originally featured: August 2014
Last modified: April 01 2017 04:33:12.
References:
Wildflowers of the Santa Monica Mountains, by Milt McAuley
Flowering Plants: The Santa Monica Mountains, Coastal and Chaparral Regions of Southern California, by Nancy Dale
Images Botanical Terms for Leaves