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Fumaria muralis

common ramping-fumitory

Papaveraceae

Western and southern Europe and North Africa

Attracts Pollinators Drought Tolerant

SunFull Sun – Part Shade

WaterLow · drought-tolerant

Overview

Fumaria muralis is a scrambling annual with weak, straggling or climbing stems 8-40 inches (20-100 cm) long that lean on surrounding plants for support. The grey-green leaves are much divided into small flat lobes, giving a delicate, ferny look. Loose racemes of 12-20 tubular flowers stand on short stalks, each flower 0.35-0.5 inch (9-12 mm) long, pinkish-purple with a darker maroon or blackish tip, two-lipped, and drawn back into a short rounded spur. Flowering runs over a long season from April to October. The flowers are followed by small rounded one-seeded nutlets. The plant germinates in autumn or spring and completes its cycle in a single season, scrambling over open soil and low vegetation. It grows on cultivated and disturbed ground and competes weakly in dense cover. Stems and foliage are soft and easily pulled.

Native Range

Native to western and southern Europe and North Africa, and naturalised more widely. It grows on cultivated ground, gardens, arable fields, hedge banks, walls, and waste places on light, well-drained soils at low elevations.

Suggested Uses

Grown occasionally in wildflower and pollinator plantings and informal cottage borders on open, disturbed soil, where it scrambles through low planting and self-seeds. More often it appears as a self-sown weed of cultivated ground than as a planted subject. Flowers draw bees and other small insects over a long season.

How to Identify

Recognised by weak, scrambling stems, finely divided grey-green ferny leaves, and loose racemes of tubular pinkish-purple flowers tipped dark maroon, each with a short rounded spur. The flower size of 0.35-0.5 inch (9-12 mm) and the form of the fruit and sepals separate it from common fumitory (Fumaria officinalis), which has smaller flowers in denser spikes.

Appearance

Size & Dimensions

Height8" - 3'4"

Width/Spread8" - 2'

Colors

Flower Colors

pink

purple

Foliage Colors

green

Bloom Information

Bloom Period

~28 weeks

Spring Summer Fall

Flowers over a long season from April to October, with the heaviest bloom in late spring and summer. Successive racemes keep a plant in flower for many weeks. Bloom continues until autumn frosts end the plant.

Detailed Descriptions

Flower Description

pinkish-purple with maroon tip

Foliage Description

grey-green

Growing Conditions

Sun Requirements

SunFull Sun SunPartial Shade

Requires 4-9 hours of direct sunlight daily

• Full Sun: 6+ hours of direct sunlight

• Partial Shade: 3-6 hours of direct sunlight

• Full Shade: Less than 3 hours of direct sunlight

Soil Requirements

pH Range6.0 - 7.5(Neutral)

357912

Soil Types

loam sand

Drainagewell drained

Water & Climate

Water Needs

Low

Drought Tolerance

Drought tolerant when established

Care & Maintenance

Care Guide

Grows in full sun to light shade on light, free-draining, cultivated or disturbed soils and tolerates poor, dry ground. It is raised from seed sown or self-sown on open soil and needs no feeding or watering once established. The weak stems scramble through neighbouring plants rather than standing alone, and the plant is easily pulled where unwanted. Self-sown seed appears across bare cultivated ground, where it grows as a garden and arable weed. It competes poorly in dense vegetation and dies out as cover closes over. Few pests or diseases affect it.

Pruning

No pruning is needed. Plants are pulled or hoed out where unwanted, before seed sets, since they regrow only from seed. Some plants are left to flower and self-seed where the species is grown deliberately.