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Fancy Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis Multiplex)

The double bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis f. multiplex) is a rare thing. The plants sold in general commerce all come from one plant found, according to an account in Linc and Laura Foster's classic book Cuttings From A Rock Garden , in the spring of 1917 in a woods in Dayton, Ohio. Mr. von Webern who had purchased the woods and found the double bloodroot, fortunately sent out a couple of the plants; the original colony apparently eventually died out, but he had sent one plant to the Montreal Botanical Garden, which in turn distributed it into commerce. A few other double flowered bloodroot plants have since been found; in the southeast and perhaps in New England, as well as a pink flowered single. I don't know if any of the other doubles found have had as many extra petals as Mr. von Webern's plant. The doubles are very expensive, because they don't set seed so must (slowly) be propagated vegetatively. However, the $75 price I see charged by a certain well-known nursery is ridiculous.

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Uploaded on April 15, 2012
Taken on April 14, 2012