Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Dicentra pauciflora is a species of flowering plant in Dicentra, the genus containing the bleeding-hearts. Its common names include shorthorn steer's head and few-flowered bleeding-heart. This perennial wildflower is native to the US states of Oregon and California, where it grows high in the mountains in gravelly soils. This is a short bleeding-heart, approaching 10 centimeters in maximum height. From a rhizome beneath the soil it extends several erect petioles, each holding a leaf divided into leaflets which are each divided into smooth, fingerlike lobes. It also erects a thin stem which is topped with an inflorescence of one to three nodding flowers. Each flower is a shade of pink or purple to white, with two curving outer petals flexed back against the flower, and inner petals extended straight outward. The fruit is a capsule just over a centimeter long.

Plant type

Perennial herb

Size

1 - 4 in Tall

Calscape icon
Color

Pink, White, Purple

Water

High, Moderate

Plant communities

Alpine Fell-Fields, Subalpine Forest

Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

1 confirmed and 0 likely

Confirmed Likely

Clodius Parnassian

Parnassius clodius