Bloodroot

Sanguinaria canadensis

This week the showiest flower in the Park is probably bloodroot; its pure white blossoms are sprinkled over both slopes.  Each stalk has but one flower and one leaf.  The leaf wraps around the flower bud as they emerge from underground, and continues to surround the flower stem, as seen in the pictures, like a shawl on the shoulders of a pretty maiden, only bending away as the flower develops into a fruit.   The leaf is characteristic.  It is palmately lobed, which means it has lobes that spread out like the fingers of a hand.  The number of "fingers" varies from three, as in the picture at left to seven in the last picture below to even nine.  The edges of the leaves are wavy, and the veins are remarkably thick.  The single flower is pure white; although pink varieties are known, I have never seen any.  According to guidebooks, there are between six and twelve petals, but I count 15 in the closeup below.  The petals may be all more-or-less the same size, or they may come in two sizes, as seen in the closeup.  Once pollinated the flower will develop into a fruit, which in bloodroot, is a long thin capsule that breaks open to release the seeds.  In the last picture below, the plant in the background is beginning to develop a fruit.  Bloodroot is still another example of a spring ephemeral, like coltsfoot and spring beauty, a plant that emerges in the early spring, using energy stored the previous year in its roots, and then blooms before the trees leaf out, while the forest is still open and sunny.

Bloodroot can be found in moist to dry woods, on slopes near streams, on shores and flood plains, and rarely in meadows and clearings.  It grows from Nova Scotia to Manitoba, south to Florida and Texas.  In Wildwood it is common on both wooded slopes of the Park.

The common name bloodroot comes from the sap in the root, which is deep orange to red.  The genus name Sanguinaria comes from the Latin sanguinarius meaning "bleeding."  The species name canadensis, of course, means "of Canada."

The blood-colored sap is acrid and poisonous, containing several alkaloids, the same chemical family as nicotine.  The juice has been used as an expectorant, to cause urination, and on skin sores.  Native Americans used it to treat fever and rheumatism and to induce vomiting.  In the Nineteenth Century it was used to treat skin cancer, polyps and warts.  It was always necessary to use it with great caution, however, as an overdose could be lethal.  The principal alkaloid in the juice, sanguinarine, was used in the 1980's in toothpastes and mouthwashes as it was found to inhibit oral bacteria and thus protect against the formation of dental plaque and cavities.  However, this use has been abandoned because of concerns over the chemical's toxicity, and because other drugs were found to work better.  The Native Americans also used the juice as a red face paint