Fumaria is a genus of 50 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of annual

Annual plant

An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...

 plants

Flowering plant

The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

, native to Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

 and Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, most diverse in the Mediterranean

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

 region, and introduced to North

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 and South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

 and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Fumaria indica contains the alkaloid

Alkaloid

Alkaloids are a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds that contain mostly basic nitrogen atoms. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Also some synthetic compounds of similar structure are attributed to alkaloids...

s fuyuziphine and alpha-hydrastine. Fumaria indica may have anti-inflammatory and anti-pain potential.

Species

There are about 50 species, including:

• Fumaria bastardii
  Fumaria bastardii
  Fumaria bastardii, commonly, tall ramping fumitory or bastard's fumitory, is a many-branched herbaceous plant native the British Isles. There are few plants that are only endemic to Britain. One of the plants on this list is possibly Fumaria bastardii or as it was later named Painter’s Fumitory...
  
  
  tall ramping fumitory, bastard's fumitory
• Fumaria capreolata
  white ramping fumitory
• Fumaria densiflora
  dense-flowered fumitory
• Fumaria macrocarpa
• Fumaria martinii
  Martin's fumitory
• Fumaria muralis
  Fumaria muralis
  Fumaria muralis, commonly wall fumitory or common ramping fumitory, is a many branched, annual herbaceous plant, native to Europe.Approximately a dozen flowers appear in each inflorescence. The flowers are pink with a dark red tip....
  
  
  wall fumitory
• Fumaria occidentalis
  western fumitory, Cornish fumitory
• Fumaria officinalis
  Fumaria officinalis
  Fumaria officinalis is the most common species of the genus Fumaria in Western and Central Europe. It is closely related to the Papaveraceae Family.-Description:...
  
  
  common fumitory, drug fumitory
• Fumaria purpurea
  purple ramping fumitory
• Fumaria parviflora
  Fumaria parviflora
  Fumaria parviflora is a species of flowering plant known by the common names fineleaf fumitory and Indian fumitory. It is native to Europe, Asia, and Africa, but it is common and widely distributed in many other parts of the world. It is sometimes weedy. The small flowers are dull white with purple...
  
  
  fineleaf fumitory
• Fumaria reuteri
  few-flowered fumitory
• Fumaria schleicheri
• Fumaria vaillantii
  earthsmoke

Fumitory is (possibly) an important food plant for the Turtle Dove

Turtle Dove

The European Turtle Dove , also known as Turtle Dove, is a member of the bird family Columbidae, which includes the doves and pigeons.-Distribution & Status:...

.

External links

• USDA Plants Profile: Genus Fumaria