Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Bloodroot Pollination: Bet-Hedging In Uncertain Times, W. John Hayden
Bloodroot Pollination: Bet-Hedging In Uncertain Times, W. John Hayden
Biology Faculty Publications
“Hurry up and wait.” The phrase that epitomizes life in the military or any other large, bureaucratic, organization, applies surprisingly well to bloodroot and similar ephemeral wildflowers. Each year these plants race to flower as early as possible to assure sufficient time for fruits to ripen and seeds to mature while sunshine is abundant at the forest floor, for all too soon the forest floor will be draped in shadows cast by the trees’ leafy canopy. Ephemerals do everything quickly: sprout, grow, flower, disperse seeds, and re-enter dormancy. But flowering in very early spring can be risky. Some days will …
2005 Virginia Wildflower Of The Year: Bloodroot, Sanguinaria Canadensis, W. John Hayden
2005 Virginia Wildflower Of The Year: Bloodroot, Sanguinaria Canadensis, W. John Hayden
Biology Faculty Publications
Bloodroot is an herbaceous perennial that grows from a persistent, branched underground stem or rhizome. Early each spring, while the forest canopy is still bare, each well-developed rhizome tip produces one leaf and one flower stalk. The leaf is kidney-shaped in its overall outline, but it is also divided into a pattern of rounded lobes and sinuses, rendering a complex overall shape. At flowering time, bloodroot leaves form a loose vertically-oriented collar around the flower stalk with the bluish-green lower leaf surface forming the outside of the collar; as the season progresses, the leaves open flat and expand to their …