Weeds of Australia - Fact Sheet

Top Scientific Name Synonyms Family Common Names Origin Naturalised Distribution Notes

Scientific Name

Fumaria capreolata L.

Synonyms

Fumaria capreolata L. subsp. capreolata
Fumaria officinalis L. var. capreolata (L.) Ewart

Family

Fumariaceae (Western Australia, New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and the Northern Territory)
Papaveraceae (Queensland)

Common Names

climbing fumitory, fumitory, rampant fumitory, ramping fumitory, white fumitory, white ramping fumitory, white ramping-fumitory, whiteflower fumitory, white-flowered fumitory

Origin

Native to northern Africa (i.e. northern Algeria, northern Egypt, northern Libya, Morocco and Tunisia), the Azores, the Canary Islands, western and southern Europe (i.e. Ireland, the UK, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Portugal, Spain, Albania, Greece, Italy and southern Yugoslavia) and western Asia.

Naturalised Distribution

Widely naturalised and common in southern Australia (i.e. in New South Wales, Victoria, many parts of South Australia and south-western Western Australia). Also occasionally naturalised in the cooler districts of south-eastern Queensland.

Notes

Climbing fumitory (Fumaria capreolata) is regarded as an environmental weed in South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia. Unlike all of the other fumitory species (Fumaria spp.) in Australia, which are primarily weeds of crops and agricultural areas, this species is mainly a weed of creekbanks and riparian areas, urban bushland, coastal sites, open woodlands, gardens, roadsides, disturbed sites and waste areas. It prefers partially shady, wetter, habitats where it can form a dense ground cover and may also climb up over lower-growing vegetation.

 

In Victoria, climbing fumitory (Fumaria capreolata) is seen as a potential risk to one or more native plant communities. It is naturalised in native vegetation, but is currently thought to be causing minimal disruption to ecological processes or losses to biodiversity. It appears on some local and regional environmental weed lists (e.g. in Knox City and in the Angahook-Otway region) and has been recorded growing in Yarra Bend Park in Melbourne.

 

In Western Australia, climbing fumitory (Fumaria capreolata) is mainly associated with settlements from Mullewa to Albany on the Swan Coastal Plain and eastwards to Lake Grace. It is common on wasteland and road verges, but also invades a wide variety of natural habitats and is given a mild rating in the Environmental Weed Strategy for Western Australia. For example, it is found in shrublands and granite rocks in the Darling Range, is a w eed of eucalypt woodlands in the City of Gosnells, and has invaded tuart woodlands and banksia woodlands in Lake Claremont Reserve.

 

Climbing fumitory (Fumaria capreolata) is also common in riparian areas in New South Wales and is present in numerous conservation areas in South Australia (e.g. Ferguson Conservation Park, Kenneth Stirling Conservation Park, Sturt Gorge Recreation Park, Cleland Conservation Park, Brownhill Creek Recreation Park, Belair National Park, Morialta Conservation Park, Cudlee Creek Conservation Park and  Henley Beach to Tennyson Coastal Reserve).