E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Fumaria officinalis L.
common fumatory (common fumitory; drug fumitory)
Papaveraceae (Fumitory family)
(Previously in Fumariaceae)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Distribution of Fumaria officinalis
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Introduction

Common fumitory in an introduced species in North America that is found across the US and Canada (USDA 2010). It is an annual herb from a taproot, with simple erect, branched stems and reddish purple flowers. Flowers are tiny, less than 10 mm. Leaflet lobes are almost linear. Work by Frank Lomer in the province indicates that it is very rare in BC (Lomer pers. com. 2010).

Species Information

Click on the image below to view an expanded illustration for this species.

Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

General:
Annual herb from a taproot; stems simple, erect, freely branched, 20-40 cm long, sometimes climbing.

Leaves:
Stem leaves alternate, divided, finely pinnately dissected, the ultimate segments oblanceolate, rounded.

Flowers:
Inflorescence of axillary racemes; corollas reddish-purple, 7-8 mm long, dark purple at the tip; spurs up to 4 mm long.

Fruits:
Nutlets, globose, slightly depressed at the tip, 2.5 mm wide, warty, single-seeded; seeds 1.0-1.5 mm long.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Key to the Species and Taxonomic Notes

1. Corollas 9-11 mm long.....................Fumaria martinii

1. Corollas 7-8 mm long.........................Fumaria officinalis

Source: Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Mesic disturbed areas in the lowland zone; rare on SE Vancouver Island and adjacent mainland; introduced from Eurasia.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Status Information

Origin Status	Provincial Status	BC List (Red Blue List)	COSEWIC
Exotic	SNA	Exotic	Not Listed

BC Ministry of Environment: BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer, the authoritative source for conservation information in British Columbia.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Flora North America treatment for Papaveraceae
Flora North America treatment for Fumariaceae (Previous Family)
Flora North America treatment for Fumaria officinalis
Genetic information (NCBI Taxonomy Database)
International Plant Names Index
Taxonomic Information from the World Flora Online
Integrated Taxonomic Information System

Additional Range and Status Information Links

Burke Museum of Natural History (Washington State records)
CalFlora
Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria records
Jepson Interchange
NatureServe Explorer
USDA

Additional Photo Sources

Images From CalPhoto
UT Austin's Native Plant Database
Google Image Search
Flickr Image Search

General References

Google Scholar Search
Family References
General Botanical References for BC

Recommended citation: Author, Date. Page title. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2020. E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. [Accessed: 2024-05-16 9:49:19 PM ]

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