Mr. Guido von Webern had a perceptive eye and a love of nature. In 1916 he was attracted by a seven acre tract of land at the corner of
North Main Street and Turner Road in Dayton, Ohio, about four miles north of the center of the city. He bought the property because of the beauty
of its terrain, which included a steep slope covered with splendid trees, a site likely as the setting for wild flowers, a particular delight of his.
In spring when he inspected what he had purchased, he discovered to his joy, among a clump of Sanguinaria canadensis, a solitairy plant with fully
doubled blossoms. Because of his acquaintance with the native flora and his amateur knowledge of botany, Mr. von Webern realized that he had
spotted an unusual mutation. It was a small, spindly plant; so, without disturbing it, he marked its location and protected it.
By 1919 the plant had increased to a vigorous clump, large enough to divide.
Photo courtesy of Bob Gutowski
Mr. von Webern sent a division of the plant to the Arnold Arboretum
in the autumn of that year.
In the "Gardeners Chronicle", series 3, vol. 73, p. 283, May 1923, H.E. Wilson, director of the Arnold Arboretum, described this plant,
the Double Bloodroot, as Sanguinaria canadensis var. multiplex.
In 1931 Weatherby made it a form rather than a variety and in botanical literature
today it would be listed: Sanguinaria canadensis Linnaeus forma