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Fumaria purpurea Pugsley, Purple Ramping-fumitory

Account Summary

Introduction, archaeophyte? A rare casual, but probably over-looked and under-recorded.

1947; MCM & D; a potato field at Donagh Crossroads, near Lisnaskea.

Growth form and preferred habitats

F. purpurea has a loose inflorescence of pinkish-purple flowers, the petals and wings tipped with a darker purple, and it differs from the other large-flowered species, F. capreolata, in the fact that the raceme of flowers is as long as the stalk that carries them, not shorter. Like all the other species of Fumaria, it frequents disturbed, acidic, free-draining soils, and in this case it has a tendency to appear sporadically at some sites.

Fermanagh occurrence

The above is the only Fermanagh record of this plant (Revised Typescript Flora) and despite its date, it does not appear in the 1951 Typescript Flora.

Irish occurrence

As is the case with the slightly more common F. capreolata (White Ramping-fumitory), most records of F. purpurea in Ireland tend to be located at or near the coast. It is perhaps best thought of as merely a casual introduction in all or most of Ireland, occurring chiefly at E coast ports. In many instances, it is synanthrophic (ie closely associated with man and with artificial habitats) (New Atlas).

In Northern Ireland, F. purpurea is the rarest fumitory species by quite a long margin, having post-1970 records from just seven hectads in Cos Antrim and Londonderry (H39 & H40) (NI Vascular Plant Database).

British occurrence

F. purpurea is confined to Great Britain, Ireland and the Channel Isles (Guernsey), ie it is a scarce endemic species, but at a majority of sites it is merely a casual introduction (Jalas & Suominen 1991, Map 2089; Stewart et al. 1994; Murphy 2009). It is thinly distributed across Britain in the whole range of latitude from the Channel Isles to Orkney, but it does not reach Shetland. Again, as in Ireland, it is chiefly but not entirely coastal in its British sites. However, all comments on distribution have to be made guardedly, since very probably this species is overlooked or mistaken by many recorders and is therefore under-recorded (Preston et al. 2002).

Conservation status

Being endemic, F. purpurea is given a high priority in terms of conservation despite its weedy habit and its association with agricultural or industrially disturbed ground (Stewart et al. 1994).

Threats

None.