FUMITORY FAMILY 



29 



not uncommon in waste places and village hedgerows. Leaves 

 glaucous, imparipinnate and obtusely lobed ; flowers in umbellate 



m. across ; capsule 



long.— Fl. May- 



clusters, f- 



August, or, as Pliny tells us, from the time of the arrival of the 



swallows until their departure. Perennial. The abundant 



orange-yellow juice is a violent acrid poison, but is a popular 



remedy for warts, and is said to have been used successfully in 



ophthalmia. 



■^ The Lesser Celandine, Ra?iiinadus Ficdria (see p. 13), bears 

 little resemblance either in appearance or properties to this species. 



CORi'DALls claviculAta {Clhnhing Corydalis). 



I 



Ord. V. — FuxMARiACErE.— The Fumitory Family 



Herbaceous plants with watery juice. Leaves divided ; flowers 

 in bracteate racemes, monosymmetric ; sepals 2, small, 

 deciduous ; petals 4, usually in dissimilar pairs, the outer ones 

 larger, and one or both swollen or spurred at the base, the inner 

 ones partly coherent ; stamens really 4, but apparently 6, 

 diadelphous, each set consisting of one whole and two half 

 (dimidiate) stamens ; carpels 2 ; ovary i-chambered ; seeds crested. 



