[283] Pseudofumaria lutea, Yellow Corydalis
Introduction
Pseudofumaria lutea, Yellow Corydalis, is a low-growing plant with yellow flowers. Originally an Alpine plant it has been introduced in the UK and become naturalized and in places may be regarded as a weed.
You will know by now that common names can be ambiguous and confusing and scientific names are subject to changes with taxonomic revisions. There is a genus called Corydalis with about 500 species but two of these species have been recently moved to a new genus Pseudofumaria. These are Pseudofumaria lutea and Pseudofumaria alba, which have retained their common names – Yellow Corydalis and White Corydalis respectively!
Pseudofumaria lutea is also known as Rock Fumewort. Some species of the genus Corydalis and another closely related genus Fumaria, are also called Fumewort or Fumitory
Taxonomy
Kingdom – Plants
Division – Vascular Plants
Class – Angiosperms (Flowering Plants)
Order – Ranunculales
Family – Papaveraceae
Subfamily – Fumarioideae
Tribe – Fumarieae
Genus – Pseudofumaria
Scientific Name – Pseudofumaria lutea
It retains the synonyms Corydalis lutea and Fumaria lutea
Name
Fumitory comes via Old French from the Latin fumus terrae, smoke of the earth and fumewort and Fumaria are cognate. Pseudo- often means false, and the new genus Pseudofumaria is ‘not quite Fumaria’. (They could have called it Pseudocorydalis!)
Corydalis comes from the Ancient Greek name of the Crested Lark, an allusion to the similarity in shape of its flowers to the bird’s crest. Lutea is the Latin for a shade of yellow.
Description
Yellow Corydalis is a spreading, low-growing plant.
It has small, smooth looking, lobed grey-green leaves that can remain over winter.
The elongated bright yellow flowers grow in tight bunches.
Habitat and use
Yellow Corydalis is native to the foothills of the Alps. It grows in rocky places and is commonly seen as a weed in pavements outside houses.
Although brought to the UK as a cultivated species it is now widely regarded as a weed. Many other species and varieties of Corydalis are available as garden plants.
Other Notes
This species spreads well as a weed. There are several local streets where every house has it in their front garden or in the pavements outside (or both.)
The Species of Britain 