Project Page
This page contains a few long term projects concerning the Fumariaceae family (Dicentra, Corydalis, et al.). Have a little look around and explore. I’ll keep adding to this page so do come back and see how it’s all coming along. Also, feel free to comment: corrections and observations are welcome!
Botanical Portraits
Click on the picture above to go to a gallery of botanical illustration-style photographs of plants. I’m putting this on a separate page as it will potentially become quite big. As with all of these projects, it’s an ongoing endeavour. It is, in some part, for my own education, but hopefully it can be useful to the fellow enthusiasts too!
Plant Map
I’ve been working on a map to show the distribution of the Fumariaceae family in the wild. These are approximate and have a certain margin of error(!), but should give a good idea of the areas these plants live in. Obviously, the various plants only occupy suitable habitats within these areas (as an example: wooded northern slopes in the highlighted area).
Etymology Table
Names can be really useful: sometimes they tell you about an important characteristic; sometimes they give an indication of a feature that distinguishes it from other similar species; other times they’re just interesting! Below is a table showing the meanings and/or origins of the names of some of the members of the Fumariaceae family, to the best of my knowledge.
from the Greek ‘Corydallion’: ancient word for Crested Lark – the spurs of the flowers were considered to resemble the bird’s crest
latin for indirect or zigzagging, possibly a reference to it’s spreading roots
a reference to blue/green colour, presumably it’s foliage rather than the flowers
derived from the Latin for whole or entire; referring to it’s bracts which are entire rather than divided like most related species
refers to it’s natural distribution near the Malka River on the Northern foothills to the Caucasus mountain range
named after the Polish botanist Jósef Paczoki (1864-1942)
the species name dates back to 1753 (Linnaeus), and comes from the Latin solid or dense, possibly in reference to it’s root
from the Greek di and kentron meaning two spurred
denoting Canada and, historically, North East USA (D. canadensis is mostly found south of the border)
meaning hooded
meaning choice or distinguished
meaning handsome or beautiful
from the Latin for foreigner – a reference to it’s being the only Dicentra species found on the Asian continent
Dactyl comes from the Greek for finger (possibly a reference to the tendrils?), capnos from the Greek for smoke (a common point of reference for the Fumariaceae family – hence ‘fume’ in the family name too)
from Latin for climbing
from Latin for large (macro) and Greek for smoke (capnos)
meaning swelling in Latin – I’m not sure which part of the plant this refers to
What a great website! I really liked the interesting details about the plants that I was interested in (sadly sold out), but then I found the plant map and etymology table! Brilliant and really interesting and useful. I’ll definitely keep looking at the website for any changes and hopefully order when stock is available.
Thanks Chris!
I find those sorts of things endlessly fascinating, so I thought I’d put them online in case someone else did too! There’ll be a few herbaceous plants (such as Corydalis flexuosa and Dicentra formosa) available soon, and some of the plants that are currently sold out will be available as tubers in the summer.
Thanks again for your kind words 🙂