Thursday 23 May
Purple ramping-fumitory (Fumaria purpurea)
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Find out here.Purple ramping-fumitory fact file
- Description
- Biology
- Range
- Habitat
- Status
- Threats
- Conservation
- Find out more
- Glossary
- References
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Purple ramping-fumitory description
| Kingdom | Plantae |
| Phylum | Anthophyta |
| Class | Magnoliopsida |
| Order | Papaverales |
| Family | Fumariaceae |
| Genus | Fumaria |
Purple ramping-fumitory is a climbing plant which can also be found sprawling across the ground. It bears up to 24 purple flowers, 12 mm in length, in clusters on the end of its stems. The leaves form three or five lobes and are arranged alternately up the stems.
The fumitory family's English and scientific names derive from the Latin fumus terrae, meaning 'earth smoke'. This is believed to stem from an early botanist who described the appearance of fumitory 'as if the ground were all of a smoak'.
- Size
- Height: up to 100 cm
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Related species
Purple ramping-fumitory biology
This plant is an annual, and flowers between July and October. The fruits are produced on downward curved pedicels. As the purple ramping-fumitory resembles others in the family, it has been somewhat overlooked by botanists, and not a lot is known about the plant.
TopPurple ramping-fumitory range
This species is endemic to Britain, Ireland and the Channel Islands. It is widely distributed but the main concentrations are in western and northern Britain. Its present strongholds are Cornwall and Lancashire.
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Species with a similar range
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You can view distribution information for this species at the National Biodiversity Network Gateway. |
Purple ramping-fumitory habitat
Purple ramping-fumitory is a plant of hedge-banks, arable land, waste ground and occasionally sea cliffs. It favours sites subject to recent disturbance, or drought affected areas.
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Species found in a similar habitat
Purple ramping-fumitory status
Classified as Lower Risk: Nationally Scarce.
TopPurple ramping-fumitory threats
This species was not discovered until 1902 and, as it has not been fully studied, it is little understood why it is declining. However, as with so many of our arable weeds, the likely cause is changes in farming practices.
TopPurple ramping-fumitory conservation
Purple ramping-fumitory is listed in the UK Biodiversity Action Plans (UKBAPs), and included in English Nature's Species Recovery Programme (SRP). The priority action for this species is to establish the true status of the plant, and to protect it at its present sites. Once this is achieved, work can begin on increasing the range and populations.
With any endangered plant, it is important to ensure that seeds are collected and stored as an insurance against possible extinction, and to assist in any re-introduction programme. The Millennium Seed Bank, maintained by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, at Wakehurst Place, has stored seeds from many UK plants.
Purple ramping-fumitory is one of many arable plants that could benefit from agricultural/environment schemes. Efforts are underway to encourage farmers and landowners to adopt these schemes in order to preserve these scarce plants.
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The UK Biodiversity Action Plan for this species is available at UK BAP. |
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There may be further information about this species available via the National Biodiversity Network Gateway. |
Authentication
Information supplied by English Nature.
http://www.english-nature.org.uk
Glossary
- Annual
- Lives or grows for just one year.
- Endemic
- A species or taxonomic group that is only found in one particular country or geographic area.
- Pedicels
- In plants, a small stalk bearing a single flower within an inflorescence (the flower-bearing reproductive shoot of the plant).
References
More »Related species
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