CORYDALIS

genus of about 300 species of plants in the fumitory family (Fumariaceae) native to North Temperate areas and southern Africa. Most are weak-stemmed perennial garden plants with underground tubers and lobed or finely dissected leaves, although the climbing corydalis (C. claviculata) of Great Britain is an annual with short sprays of cream-coloured, tubular flowers. Yellow corydalis (C. lutea) of southern Europe is a popular garden perennial with 22-centimetre- (about 9-inch-) tall sprays of yellow tubular blooms. Native North American species include pale or pink corydalis, or Roman wormwood (C. sempervirens), a 60-centimetre-tall annual with pink, yellow-tipped flowers; and golden corydalis (C. aurea), a 15-centimetre annual.