FUMARIACEAE FUMITORY FAMILY 
GOLDEN CORYDALIS 
Corydalis aurea Willd. 
This very pretty inhabitant of rocky woodlands is scattered 
in far-separated localities throughout the state. It has traveled 
far and irregularly and grows from Nova Scotia and Pennsyl- 
vania to Minnesota and 
Alaska, south to 
Missouri and in the 
Rocky mountains to 
Arizona. This is our 
commonest species and 
yet because of its se- 
cluded habitat is un- 
known to most people 
and commonly unob- 
served by the profes- 
sional botanist. 
The plant grows I 
foot high from a fibrous 
root cluster, branches 
diffusely and _ bears 
numerous smooth, 
much-divided leaves 
suggestive of its cousin 
the Dutchman’s 
Breeches, page 121. 
The bright golden 
yellow flowers, one-half to three-quarters of an inch long, are 
borne in terminal and lateral racemes. They are very irregular 
with 2 sepals and 4 closely attached petals, with 1 of the outer 
petals long spurred at the base. Stamens are 6 in 2 sets of 3 
opposite the outer petals. The single pistil becomes a long, 
curved, very slender pod contracted regularly at intervals. The 
black seeds are conically thickened discs, shiny and with minute 
concentric ridges. The flowers bloom from the latter part of 
May to August and the seeds are ripe in September. 
The Pale Corydalis, Corydalis sempervirens (L.) Pers., has pur- 
plish or rose flowers which are yellow tipped, in panicled racemes 
on a stalk 4-24 inches high. Rocky bluffs are the best places to look 
for this plant. The spur of the corolla is short and rounded, and 
the elongated pods are slender and erect. 
123 
