''Corydalis'' (from

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

''korydalís'' "

crested lark The crested lark (''Galerida cristata'') is a species of lark widespread across Eurasia and North Africa, northern Africa. It is a non-migratory bird, but can occasionally be found as a Vagrancy (biology), vagrant in Great Britain. Taxonomy and ...

") is a genus of about 540 species of annual and

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

plants Plants are the eukaryotes that form the kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria to produce sugars f ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Papaveraceae The Papaveraceae, informally known as the poppy family, are an economically important family (biology), family of about 42 genera and approximately 775 known species of flowering plants in the order Ranunculales. The family is cosmopolitan dis ...

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

to the

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

Northern Hemisphere and the high mountains of tropical eastern Africa. They are most diverse in China and the Himalayas, with at least 357 species in China. Corydalis spp. are the only dicots having only a single

cotyledon A cotyledon ( ; ; "a cavity, small cup, any cup-shaped hollow", gen. (), ) is a "seed leaf" – a significant part of the embryo within the seed of a plant – and is formally defined as "the embryonic leaf in seed-bearing plants, one or mor ...

(seed leaf).

Ecology

''Corydalis'' species are used as food plants by the

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

species (butterflies), especially the

clouded Apollo The clouded Apollo (''Parnassius mnemosyne'') is a butterfly species of the family of swallowtail butterflies (Papilionidae) found in the Palearctic realm. Clouded Apollos inhabit meadows and woodland clearings with plenty of flowering plants, b ...

Toxicity

''Corydalis cava'' and some other tuberous species contain the

alkaloid Alkaloids are a broad class of natural product, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. Some synthetic compounds of similar structure may also be termed alkaloids. Alkaloids are produced by a large varie ...

bulbocapnine, which is occasionally used in medicine but scientific evidence is lacking in the correct dosages and side effects. Many of the species in ''Corydalis'' contain other toxins and alkaloids like

canadine (''S'')-Canadine, also known as (''S'')-tetrahydroberberine and xanthopuccine, is a benzylisoquinoline alkaloid (BIA), of the protoberberine structural subgroup, and is present in many plants from the family Papaveraceae, such as '' Corydalis yan ...

, which blocks

calcium Calcium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to it ...

. The species ''C. caseana'' is poisonous to livestock.

Taxonomy

Current species

There are about 540 species, including: *''

Corydalis ambigua ''Corydalis ambigua'' is a tuberous early flowering east Asian flowering plant species in the poppy family Papaveraceae. Its exact native range is obscure due to taxonomic confusion. It is one of the sources of the drug tetrahydropalmatine. Ch ...

'' *''

Corydalis aurea ''Corydalis aurea,'' also known as scrambled eggs, golden smoke, or golden corydalis, is a flowering plant in the poppy family (Papaveraceae). The plant has a broad range stretching across North America and is able to thrive within a variety of eco ...

'' *''

Corydalis buschii ''Corydalis'' (from Greek ''korydalís'' "crested lark") is a genus of about 540 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants in the family Papaveraceae, native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere and the high mountains of tropical easter ...

'' *''

Corydalis bracteata ''Corydalis'' (from Greek ''korydalís'' "crested lark") is a genus of about 540 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants in the family Papaveraceae, native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere and the high mountains of tropical easter ...

'' *''

Corydalis cava ''Corydalis cava'' is a species of flowering plant in the family (biology), family Papaveraceae, native plant, native to moist, shady, woodland habitats throughout most of mainland Europe, although commonest in central and southeast Europe. Its r ...

'' *''

Corydalis caseana ''Corydalis'' (from Greek ''korydalís'' "crested lark") is a genus of about 540 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants in the family Papaveraceae, native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere and the high mountains of tropical easter ...

'' *''

Corydalis cheilanthifolia ''Corydalis cheilanthifolia'', the fern-leaved corydalis or fern-leaf corydalis, is a flowering plant in the family ''Papaveraceae''. It is a perennial growing from rhizomes, native to western and central China. Description Its leaves are shape ...

'' – ferny corydalis *''

Corydalis chelidoniifolia ''Corydalis chelidoniifolia'' is a flowering plant in the poppy family ''Papaveraceae''. Many of the species in ''Corydalis'' contain other toxins and alkaloids Alkaloids are a broad class of naturally occurring organic compounds that cont ...

'' *''

Corydalis darwasica ''Corydalis'' (from Greek ''korydalís'' "crested lark") is a genus of about 540 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants in the family Papaveraceae, native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere and the high mountains of tropical easter ...

'' *'' Corydalis elegans'' *'' Corydalis filistipes'' *''

Corydalis flavula ''Corydalis flavula'' (yellow fumewort, yellow harlequin, fume-root, yellow fumitory; syn. ''Capnoides flavulum'' (Raf.) Kuntze, ''Fumaria flavula'' Raf.) is an herbaceous perennial plant native to the eastern United States. Its natural habitat ...

'' *'' Corydalis flexuosa'' *'' Corydalis heterocarpa'' *''

Corydalis incisa ''Corydalis incisa'', incised fumewort, is an annual or biennial herbaceous species of plant in the poppy family. It is also known as purple keman or murasa-kike-man. Some authorities report it in the family Fumariaceae. The wildflower is nati ...

'' *'' Corydalis integra'' *'' Corydalis linstowiana'' *'' Corydalis micrantha'' *'' Corydalis nobilis'' *'' Corydalis ochotensis'' *'' Corydalis omeiana'' *'' Corydalis orthoceras'' *'' Corydalis palaestina'' *'' Corydalis pallida'' *'' Corydalis pauciflora'' *'' Corydalis pauciovulata'' *'' Corydalis rutifolia'' *'' Corydalis saxicola'' *'' Corydalis scouleri'' *''

Corydalis solida ''Corydalis solida'', fumewort or bird-in-a-bush, is a species of flowering plant in the family (biology), family Papaveraceae, native plant, native to moist, shady habitats in northern Europe and Asia. Growing to , it is a ephemeral plant, sprin ...

'' – fumewort *''

Corydalis vittae ''Corydalis'' (from Ancient Greek, Greek ''korydalís'' "crested lark") is a genus of about 540 species of annual plant, annual and perennial plant, perennial herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plant, plants in the family (biology), family P ...

'' *'' Corydalis wilsonii'' *'' Corydalis yanhusuo'' Corydalis ambigua.jpg, ''Corydalis ambigua'' Corydalis aurea flowers1.jpg, Golden smoke (''Corydalis aurea'') Corydalis buschii - (kiurunkannus), (nunneört), Buschi lõokannus C IMG 7699.JPG, ''Corydalis buschii'' Corydalis bracteata 01.JPG, ''Corydalis bracteata'' Corydaliscaseana.jpg, ''Corydalis caseana'' Corydalis cava a1.jpg, ''Corydalis cava'' Corydalis-cheilanthifolia-habitus.jpg, Ferny corydalis (''Corydalis cheilanthifolia'') Corydalis chelidoniifolia-IMG 4187.jpg, ''Corydalis chelidoniifolia'' Corydalis flavula - Yellow Fumewort.jpg, ''Corydalis flavula'' Corydalis flexuosa 'China Blue' 4.JPG, ''Corydalis flexuosa'' Corydalis heterocarpa var japonica 01.jpg, ''Corydalis heterocarpa'' Corydalis integra.jpg, ''Corydalis integra'' Corydalis linstowiana.jpg, ''Corydalis linstowiana'' File:Corydalis nobilis.JPG, ''Corydalis nobilis'' Corydalis ochotensis 4.jpg, ''Corydalis ochotensis'' Corydalis orthoceras 070407a.JPG, ''Corydalis orthoceras'' Corydalis pallida var. tenuis 02.jpg, ''Corydalis pallida'' var. ''tenuis'' Corydalis pauciflora (6187015328).jpg, ''Corydalis pauciflora'' Corydalis pauciovulata 4.JPG, Seed pods of ''Corydalis pauciovulata'' File:Corydalis rutifolia 910421.jpg, ''Corydalis rutifolia'' Corydalis scouleri.jpg, ''Corydalis scouleri'' File:Corydalis solida 2 RF.jpg, ''Corydalis solida'' ბუჩქისძირა თეთრი Corydalis vittae weißer Lerchensporn.JPG, ''Corydalis vittae'' Corydalis wilsonii (Papaveracese) plant.jpg, ''Corydalis wilsonii''

Former species

Several former ''Corydalis'' have been moved to new genera: ; ''

Pseudofumaria ''Pseudofumaria'' is a genus of herbaceous perennial plants native to Europe, formerly included in the genus ''Corydalis''. There are two species: *'' Pseudofumaria alba'' (Mill.) Lidén ( syn. ''Corydalis ochroleuca'')northwest Balkans *'' Pse ...

'' *''Corydalis lutea'' = ''

Pseudofumaria lutea ''Pseudofumaria lutea'' ( syn. ''Corydalis lutea''), the yellow corydalis or rock fumewort, is a short-lived perennial plant in the poppy family Papaveraceae. It is native to the southern foothills of the south-western and central Alps of Italy ...

'' – yellow corydalis *''Corydalis ochroleuca'' = '' Pseudofumaria alba'' ; '' Capnoides'' *''Corydalis sempervirens'' = '' Capnoides sempervirens''

References

Medicinal plants Papaveraceae genera {{papaveraceae-stub