|
Notes: This plant is indigenous to the Garden area. Eloise Butler recorded finding it on April 19, 1908. She had in 1907 obtained some plants from within Glenwood Park itself; in 1910 from a source in South Minneapolis, on April 13, 1912 from Minnehaha Park, and she later obtained plants of this species from the Fort Snelling Reservation on July 24, 1919. Martha Crone noted in her log of planting 20 plants in 1934. Native to most of Minnesota except for 21 scattered counties in the western section of the state. In North American, Bloodroot is found from the central states and central Canadian provinces eastward.
Eloise Butler wrote in 1911: "Who does not know the bloodroots - babes in the wood - each closely wrapped in the swaddling blanket of a quaintly fashioned grayish-green leaf? As the leaf unrolls the flower bud is disclosed, ensheathed in two thin, pale yellowish green sepals, which fall as the snow white corolla expands. The petals, some eight to twelve, are evanescent and will not endure rough handling or a long journey. Hence let us leave them to light up the woodland. The flower passes quickly from infancy to maturity. Presently nothing is left but the seed pod. But the leaf continues to grow lustily. It is an attractive feature with its odd lobation and prominent reddish veins. The red fleshy subterranean stem is the origin of the name bloodroot. The relationship of the bloodroot to the poppy is shown by the two sepals which fall so easily." (Published in the Sunday Minneapolis Tribune, May 7, 1911.)
The generic name comes from the Latin "sanguis" meaning "blood". The juice of the plant was used for a red dye. Pioneer lore has the root being dried and used as a stimulant but as the root is slightly poisonous only small portions could be taken. The plant has an extensive history in pharmacology. For more details and lore click here: 
Poem: Bloodroot by Elaine Goodale Eastman (1863 - 1953)
|
