Fumarioideae


Fumarioideae is a subfamily of the family Papaveraceae. It was formerly treated as a separate family, the Fumariaceae. It consists of about 575 species of herbaceous plants in 20 genera, native to the Northern Hemisphere and South Africa. The largest genus is Corydalis.

Description

Flower shape

Plants in the fumitory subfamily are easily recognised by their peculiar flowers with two dissimilar pairs of petals. One or both of the outer petals is usually spurred, and the inner petals are connected at tip.
There are two types of flowers. A given genus has one type or the other. Dicentra has flowers with two planes of symmetry, and Corydalis has flowers with one plane of symmetry.

Leaves

Most species have compound leaves.

Taxonomy

The APG IV system of 2016 includes the former family Fumariaceae within the Papaveraceae. The APG II system provided for its optional segregation as a separate family, but this option is not provided in the current APG IV system or the APG III system.

Genera

There are 20 genera: