Squirrel Corn and Dutchman’s Breeches
Squirrel Corn (Dicentra canadensis) and Dutchman’s Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) are in the same genus, and their leaves and flowers reflect this close relationship. Squirrel Corn’s flowers are more heart-shaped, and lack the upright, pointed spurs of Dutchman’s Breeches flowers. It is in these spurs that nectar is produced. Squirrel Corn gets its name from the clusters of yellow, kernel-like bulblets, or tubers, that form on its roots. Dutchman’s Breeches, at least to the person who named it, resembled pants worn by men in the Netherlands.
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