1. Fumaria officinalis L. (fumitory, fumewort, earthsmoke)

Pl. 418 a, b; Map 1867

Plants annual, with taproots. Stems 20–50(–80) cm long, loosely to strongly ascending. Leaves alternate, rarely also basal, short- to long-petiolate. Leaf blades 3 or 4 times compound and lobed, 1–5 cm long, lanceolate to ovate in outline, the ultimate segments linear to narrowly oblong or narrowly lanceolate, bluntly to sharply pointed at the tip, green or sometimes both surfaces glaucous. Inflorescences 2–6 cm long, relatively short-stalked and densely 10–40-flowered. Flowers bilaterally symmetrical in only 1 longitudinal plane, the stalks 2–4 mm long, ascending at flowering and fruiting, without a pair of bractlets. Sepals 1.5–2.0 mm long, ovate, attached slightly above to rounded to more or less truncate base, the margins with several coarse, jagged teeth, membranous and white, often with a purplish-tinged tip. Corollas white to pinkish-tinged, grading to a dark reddish purple tip. Inner petals 5.0–5.5 mm long, slender above a slightly expanded base and more or less rounded at the spoon-shaped tip. Outer petals dissimilar; the lower petal linear but slightly expanded at each end, concave at the tip; the upper petal 7–9 mm long, the spur 2.0–2.5 mm long, slightly incurved, the body keeled but not or only shallowly and irregularly crested, the apical margins slightly to moderately irregular and winged. Style not persistent, slender, the stigma inconspicuously 2-lobed. Fruits indehiscent and nutlike (the seed not easily separable from the fruit wall), 1.5–2.0 mm long, globose to slightly depressed-globose, the surface pebbled or finely warty, 1-seeded. 2n=32, 48. May–July.

Introduced, uncommon, known thus far from Hickory and Holt Counties (native of Europe, Africa; introduced widely but sporadically in the U.S., Canada). Gardens and roadsides.

This species was first reported for Missouri by Henderson (1980) from a highway embankment in loess soil. It has a long history of cultivation for herbal medicine in Europe. An infusion was used to treat a variety of ailments, including eye infections, eczema, liver and gallbladder problems, and (primarily in mixtures) constipation.

Lidén (1986) recognized three subspecies within F. officinalis differing in small details of petal shape and inflorescence development. The Missouri material would key to ssp. officinalis. Boufford (1997a) studied these in the context of North American specimens and concluded that these morphological variants did not differ significantly. He also discussed the occasional presence of weak-stemmed plants with mostly smaller, white, possibly cleistogamous flowers, but attributed this variant to a shade form.