Corydalis adiantifolia var. heterocarpa Illustration Credit: Azmat

A shorter and stouter perennial herb, 20-30 (-40) cm tall, glabrous, glaucous, sparsely branched above or simple, erect rigid; rootstock thick, woody, often shortly branched above, densely covered with withered leaf bases. Radical leaves and cauline leaves similar to Corydalis flabellate Edgew.; pinnae often kidney shaped and broader than long, 10-20 mm in diam., 3-5-lobulate, terminal segment often with 2 lateral segments at its base; petiole hardly or not sheathing at base. Racemes and flowers also similar to Corydalis flabellata; bracts much exceeding the flower buds, lower about as long as the pedicel, upper even longer than it in fruit, linear-subulate, setaceous, 4-5 (-6) mm long, 1 mm broad. Pedicels 2-4 (-5) mm long and deflexed in fruit. Sepals 3-4 (-5) mm long, 1 mm broad, membranous, lanceolate, denticulate to sub-lacerate below, often as long or slightly longer than the bracts. Capsule usually linear, rarely dimorphic, linear or broad elliptic, present on the same plant but on different branches, 15-20 (-22) mm long, 2-3 or 6-7 mm broad, 8-10 (-12)-seeded, biseriate; seeds c. 2 mm in diam., shining black.

Heteromorphic fruits were noted, for the first time, in this species, developing on different branches of the same plant. The broader fruits come very close to the following species, and hence provide a good argument for retaining Corydalis crassifolia Royle within the genus Corydalis. Plants with heteromorphic fruits have been described here under a new variety, instead of a separate species, because of the great similarity in all other characters to the type variety.

Lower Taxa

• Corydalis adiantifolia var. adiantifolia
• Corydalis adiantifolia var. heterocarpa Jafri