BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Corydalis aurea | Golden Corydalis 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Golden corydalis is a winter annual or biennial forb.  It is highly
branched with stems usually 4 to 20 inches (10-50 cm) tall, but becoming
prostrate with age [11,12,20].  Leaves are one to four times pinnately
compound [12,20,28].  Flowers are borne in racemes.  The fruits are
capsules with seeds about 0.08 inches (0.2 cm) in diameter [11,20].
Golden corydalis has a slender taproot [5,28].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Hemicryptophyte
   Therophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Golden corydalis reproduces by long-lived, wind-dispersed seed
[2,4,6,15].  Seeds may lie dormant for over 160 years [15].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Golden corydalis grows on open prairies and hillsides, along streams and
rocky banks or shores, and in open woodlands [9,11,12,13,26].  It is
also often found on disturbed sites such as along roads, in clearings,
and around gravel or sand pits [7,22,26,27].  It grows well on moderate
to steep slopes [6].  Golden corydalis grows in moist to dry,
well-drained rocky, gravelly, or sandy soil [6,14].  Lower and upper
elevational limits of golden corydalis in a few western states are as
follows:

                  Feet               Meters

Arizona       1,500-9,500            454-2,878  [16]
California    5,000-7,500          1,515-2,272  [20]
Colorado      5,000-10,500         1,515-3,181  [13]
Utah          2,640-11,071           800-3,355  [28]


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Obligate Initial Community Species

Golden corydalis usually appears in communities following disturbance
and dies out within a few years if conditions are stable [26].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Depending on latitude, golden corydalis generally flowers from May to
June or July [9,11,12,14,20].  In Arizona, however, it blooms from
February to June [16].

Related categories for Species: Corydalis aurea | Golden Corydalis