Plant Name
Scientific Name: Corydalis aurea
Synonyms: Capnoides aureum, Corydalis washingtoniana
Common Names: Scrambled Eggs, Golden Smoke
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Annual, Biennial
Growth Habit: Herb/Forb
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Desert, Upland, Mountain. It grows in sandy areas like desert and canyon washes.
Flower Color: Yellow
Flowering Season: Spring
Height: To 1 foot (30 cm) tall
Description: The oddly-shaped flowers have an inflated spur extending behind them and are 3/4 inch (1.9 cm) long. The flowers are followed by long, slender, curved seed capsules. The leaves are blue-green in color and finely dissected like those of a California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica ssp. mexicana).
Curvepod Fumewort (Corydalis curvisiliqua) is similar in appearance, but it has more strongly curved flowers.
Special Characteristics
Poisonous – The plants are poisonous and contain the toxic isoquinoline alkaloid corydaline.
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Magnoliidae
Order: Papaverales
Family: Fumariaceae – Fumitory family
Genus: Corydalis DC. – fumewort
Species: Corydalis aurea Willd. – scrambled eggs
More About This Plant