Corydalis (redirected from corydalises)

Corydalis 

a genus of plants of the family Fumariaceae. The plants are herbaceous perennials (often with a subterranean tuber) or, less commonly, biennials or annuals. The alternate leaves are mostly twice-or thrice-ternate. The irregular, spurred flowers are whitish, yellow, violet, or purple; they are gathered in racemes. The fruit is an elongate two-valved capsule.

There are about 300 species, distributed mostly in the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere. One species occurs in the mountains of tropical Africa. The USSR has about 70 species, mainly in Siberia and the mountains of Middle Asia. C. solida (formerly C. halleri) grows in the European USSR in sparse broadleaf and mixed forests and in shrubbery thickets; C. cava and C. marschalliana are found in shady broadleaf forests. The tubers contain alkaloids, including bulbocapnine and isocory-dine. The plants yield a substantial amount of nectar. Many species are cultivated as ornamentals.

REFERENCE

Atlas lekarstvennykh rastenii SSSR. Moscow, 1962.

T. V. EGOROVA