FUMARIACEAE

the fumitory, or bleeding-heart family, of the order Papaverales, comprising about 19 genera of herbaceous plants, some of them valuable ornamentals, many containing alkaloids. The fumitories include annuals, biennials, and perennials and are found mostly in the Northern Hemisphere. The flowers are bisexual, with two small sepals and four petals that are arranged in two series. One or both of the outer petals is spurred or lobed, and the lower petals often have thickened tips. Each flower has one pistil and six stamens that are in two bundles of three each (except in the genus Pteridophyllum, which has four ungrouped stamens). The ovary is superior (positioned above the point of attachment of the other flower partssepals, petals, and stamens), and the carpels (segments of the ovary) are fused. Most species have deeply cut leaves. The fruit is a capsule. The most widely grown ornamental of the family is the bleeding heart (q.v.; Dicentra spectabilis), a native of Japan. Other ornamentals are Dutchman's-breeches (q.v.; D. cucullaria), squirrel corn (q.v.; D. canadensis), North American eastern and western bleeding hearts (D. eximia and D. formosa), fumitory (q.v.; Fumaria officinalis), Allegheny vine (Adlumia fungosa), and the various European and North American members of the genus Corydalis (q.v.). Pteridophyllum racemosum is a perennial from the mountains of Japan that has distinctive fernlike leaves and 25-centimetre- (10-inch-) long sprays of white flowers.