Corydalis ophiocarpa Hook.f. & Thomson, Fl. Ind. 1: 259 1855. (syn: Capnodes ophiocarpum (Hook.fil. & Thomson) Kuntze; Capnodes streptocarpum (Maxim.) Kuntze; Corydalis japonica Makino (ambiguous synonym); Corydalis makinoana Matsum.; Corydalis streptocarpa Maxim.);
China (Anhui, Gansu, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Ningxia,
Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan), Taiwan, SE-Tibet, Bhutan, Sikkim, NE-India (Arunachal Pradesh), Japan (Honshu, Shikoku) as per Catalogue of Life; Common name: Snake Pod Corydalis
Robust erect biennial herbs, about 40-110 cm tall. Stem branched, thick at the base, grooved and glabrous. Root stocks slender tap root covered with dried or withered dry leaf-sheaths. Radical leaves numerous, triangular-ovate in outline, base vaginate, bipinnatisect, about 10-30 x 7-18 cm across, petiole flattened, wider near the base and winged along the margins, about 5-15 cm long, with about 9-11, subopposite, alternate, lanceolate-oblong shaped lateral and terminal leaflets, deeply to shallow lobed, petiolules about 5-10 mm long, ultimate segments obovate-oblong, base cuneate, apex obtuse. Cauline leaves similar to radical leaves but smaller. Cauline leaves similar to radical leaves but smaller towards the shoot, petioles about 1-2 cm long. Inflorescence raceme spikelike, terminal, about 20-60 flowered, dense, about 5-20 cm long, peduncles short, bracts linear-lanceolate, margins entire, apex acuminate, about 2-5 mm long, Flowers bisexual, zygomorphic, slender, pale yellow to cream, dark tipped, about 10-12 mm long, pedicels 5-8 mm long, sepals 2, scarious, ovate, margin dentate or erose, about 1 mm across, petals 4, outer series dissimilar, upper petal spurred slightly curved apex, not crested, winged, apex obtuse, about 10-12 mm long, spur about 2.5 mm long, lower petal somewhat similar to the upper petals, base saccate, inner series slightly clawed. Stamens 6, in 2 bundles, anthers dimorphous. Ovary unilocular, hypogynous, ovules many, style filiform, about 3 mm long, stigmas dilated, bifid. Fruits capsules, linear-tortuous, undulate, about 20-30 x 1.5-2 mm across, dehiscing when mature by tumid or inflated valves, with persistent style. Seeds 8-10, uniseriate, pitted, finely foveolate, about 1 mm across, shining black. Moist vallies of temperate Himalayas, altitude 3000-3300 m.
(Attributions- Ganeshaiah, K. N., UAS, Bangalore, India.; Kailash, B. R., ATREE, Bangalore, India.; Royal Norwegian Embassy grants. Indian Bioresource Information Network (IBIN), Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi as per India Biodiversity Portal)
Corydalis ophiocarpa from Sikkim : 2 posts by 2 authors. Attachments (2) Snake Pod Corydalis – Corydalis ophiocarpa
Found in Lachung (near Yumthang Valley), Sikkim
Flowering in June
|