Sanguinaria canadensis (bloodroot)

Japanese name: サングイナリア カナデンシス
Scientific name: Sanguinaria canadensis

[Overview]
A perennial 15–20 cm tall, which in its native habitat grows in moist forest areas, often along streams, and frequently forms colonies.
It has thick, branching rhizomes.
Red sap comes out when it is damaged.
There is no stem; each bud produces one leaf and one flower stalk.
A single leaf grows from the base, appearing wrapped around the flower stalk; it is heart-shaped to kidney-shaped, shallowly 5–7-lobed, and covered with a whitish bloom, blue-gray to gray-green on the upper surface and strongly whitish beneath.
The leaf unfolds when the flower blooms and grows to 15–20 cm long after flowering; in summer the aboveground part dies back and the plant goes dormant.
A single flower is borne at the tip of the flower stalk; it is white, 5 cm across, with 8–10 petals, opening in the sun and closing at low temperatures and at night.
There are many yellow stamens.
Some forms have pink flowers.
The fruit is a capsule.

[Uses]
The red sap is poisonous, but Native Americans used it as a dye, an anthelmintic and a medicine.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by division.
From sprouting to flowering, grow it in a sunny place, and once the leaves have expanded, in a place with bright shade.
For plants in the ground, under deciduous trees is good.
It prefers well-drained, slightly moist, fertile soil.
For potted plants, water when the soil surface dries during the growing season so that it does not dry out, and after dormancy begins, water only enough to keep it from becoming too dry.
For plants in the ground, watering is unnecessary unless it becomes extremely dry.
From sprouting until the aboveground part dies back, apply diluted liquid fertilizer or slow-release fertilizer.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

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