Dicentra cucullaria are growing in select spots in the Arobretum's native plant garden and in Gallistel and Wingra Woods. The Breeches picture here only have 5 or 6 flowers on a stalk, but some may be loaded with up to a dozen. A close up view of the flower shows two spurred outer white petals, forming the pants mentioned in its name. My flower book doesn't say, but I'm guessing that "breeches" is just older English for britches. Like other true ephemerals, dutchman's breeches will send out small fruits by the end of May and then fade back into the soils for summer. They are in the Fumitory plant family, which gets its name from the Latin word for "smoke of the earth." The flowers' leaves having a wispy, smoke-like appearance is one explanation for the family name. Another is that the juice from the plant is rumored to make people cry, just like smoke. So when you go to find them, don't stick their juices in your eye!
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