| Author | (Rafinesque) de Candolle | |
| Distribution | Present over much to most of the Mountains and Piedmont, ranging east to the western edge of the Coastal Plain, but there only along brownwater rivers (Roanoke and Cape Fear).
This is an Eastern and Mideastern species, ranging from CT, NY, and southeastern NE, south to the FL Panhandle and LA. | |
| Abundance | Frequent, though somewhat local, in the Mountains; common in the Piedmont; uncommon along the Roanoke and Cape Fear rivers eastward into the Coastal Plain, east to Northampton, Halifax, and Cumberland counties. Where found, populations may number in the hundreds of plants, or more. | |
| Habitat | This is a species of high pH soil, normally in floodplains. It grows in rich bottomland forests, natural levee forests, Basic Mesic Forests (on lower slopes), and in Rich Cove Forests. It grows most often in flat ground as opposed to on slopes. | |
| Phenology | Blooms in March and April, and fruits from April into May. The plants quickly wither after fruiting and are normally below ground by mid-May -- as do a number of members of this family (Fumariaceae). | |
| Identification | This is a low-growing spring ephemeral wildflower, often growing in large patches. The stem is often branched near the ground and can be somewhat decumbent to erect, and it reaches only about 4 inches tall. The leaves are on long petioles and are alternate, along with basal; each blade is twice-branched, with very small, finger-like ultimate segments; each leaf is barely 3 inches long, counting the petiole. The bright yellow flowers are in short racemes of a few flowers each; each flower is horizontally facing, tubular, and about 1/3-inch long, with a spur in back. C. micrantha and C. halei are quite similar, but they have larger flowers, about 1/2-inch long, with a longer spur; they have fruits erect or ascending, whereas the fruits of C. flavula are drooping. The habitats of these are different, with C. flavula a plant of rich to moist floodplains and cove forests; C. micrantha grows in dry, rocky places, cliffs, and outcrops (over mafic or calcareous rocks), and C. halei grows only in the Coastal Plain and in sandy soil or roadsides and other clearings. C. flavula is locally numerous enough in some bottomlands that the bright yellow of the flowers is noticeable, even though each flower and each plant is quite small. As with many other low-growing native spring ephemerals, they must compete with exotics such as Microstegium vimineum and Stellaria media for valued space on the forest floor. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | None
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| Other Common Name(s) | Yellow Corydalis, Yellow Harlequin, Short-spurred Corydalis | |
| State Rank | S4 | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | FACU link |
| USACE-emp | FACU link |
