Seasonal Wild Flowers

Yellow Corydalis

Pseudofumaria lutea

Papaveraceae

March to October, and all through the winter in mild

winters.

It was in flower in West Dorset in January 2018.

It is found throughout the country but is more common in

the South.

See the BSBI distribution map for Yellow Corydalis

It grows mainly on walls, but is also seen in rocky waste

ground and cracks in pavements.

It is a neophyte which has been grown in the UK since

the 1590s and escaped and became naturalised by

the 1790s.

Yellow Corydalis is a perennial herb growing as tufted

mats on walls, reaching 30cm.

The flowers form deep yellow spikes.

Individual flowers are shaped like yellow hammer-head

sharks.

White sports occasionally appear.

Leaves resemble maidenhair fern leaves, sometimes

with a greyish sheen.

Previous page: Wood Spurge
Next page: April

Typical growth on a wall

Close-up of flowers

Flowers from below

Leaves

White sport, West Dorset