The old-fashioned bleeding-heart, which has various other names like lyre’s flower, lady in a bath, Venus’s car, and Dutchman’s trousers, is native to China, Japan and other regions of Asia. However, the plant is now grown in various parts of the world for ornamental purposes.
Bleeding heart is an all-time favorite among garden growers. The most attractive part is its flowers, which are pink colored with small dangling tips that are compared to drops of blood. The flowers are produced during late spring to early summer on racemes that grow in an arch-like fashion. Each of these hanging flowers has a length of 2 to 5 cm.
The plants may grow to a maximum height of one meter. Being deciduous in nature, they lie dormant after the blooming season, but grow back the next spring. Bleeding heart is poisonous, and it is not advisable to ingest any part of it. The plants must be handled carefully, as they can cause skin irritation too.