Corydalis saxicola Bunting seed

LATIN NAME: Corydalis saxicola

COMMON NAME: Rock Corydalis

The rock corydalis is a handsome, low, tufted, perennial herb of the cool, shady, rocky places, and its fine, much-divided, fern-like, blue-green leaves and its short, upright heads of the few small, yellow or purple, spurred flowers have made it a treasured and fine plant of the region. It grows as a low, tufted, perennial herb, reaching up to half a metre or so, with the many slender, leafy stems bearing the alternate, much-divided, fern-like, blue-green leaves and, through the spring, the short, upright heads of the few small, yellow or purple, spurred, two-lipped flowers, followed by the long, slender, dry capsules of the many small, round seeds. It is a species of the flowering plant in the poppy family, and it is native to the cool, shady, rocky places of the eastern Asia, while it is prized for its long history of traditional use, and it is known as the rock corydalis.

In the poppy family it is the fern-leaved, spurred-flowered corydalis of the cool rocks, a plant of the shaded corners and the old ways of the east.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The rock corydalis roots and parts are a familiar subject in the traditional plant chemistry of the eastern Asia, and the constituents have been examined with the greatest care by the researchers across the world. The botanists have mapped its place in the poppy family and the cool, rocky flora of the region, and the insect ecologists have watched the early bees come to the small, spurred flowers of the spring. The plant is best appreciated as a subject of study rather than a casual remedy, and the growers of the shade and rock garden keep it in their catalogues for the fern-like leaves.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

In the shade garden, the rock corydalis is the fern-leaved plant of the cool corner. Its spurred flowers feed the early bees, and the soft, blue-green, much-divided leaves give the rock garden and the shaded border a fine, gentle presence. The traditional use of the region keeps the plant in the old practice, and it grows well in the moist, gritty, well-drained ground of the cool, shady spot. Fern-leaved, spurred and shade-loving.

These seeds are best sown fresh — sprinkle them thinly over the surface of pots of moist, gritty, free-draining soil and just cover them with the finest dusting of grit, keep the pots in a cool, shaded spot and never let them dry out, and the first leaves will come up steadily.