Corydalis aurea seed ripe?

[cohan]

i was out to check some wild Corydalis aurea plants for seedpods, and found lots of them--like tiny pea pods, nice and plump, but all very green..
do i need to wait til they are brown? if i do, will they all spill before i can get back out to them in the bush?
can i pick them green and dry them?
tks for any advice..

[Lesley Cox]

They never do get brown. Before that they split open and shed. Take them when they are quite green and the seeds inside look as if they are stretching the skin of the pods, really tight. After that it's too late. They'll be quite black. Sow at once and keep moist.

[Maggi Young]

A good policy with most of the Corydalis is ...... If a seed pod looks even remotely fat and full then try this test:  gently take a seed pod between your fingers and apply a tiny bit of pressure....... chances are that it will open there and then.  If so, pick them off and place in a paper bag in a warm spot where the pods can burst and the seed will be contained in the bag.

[cohan]

thanks maggi and lesley..i will get back out there when i can, hopefully this weekend....the plants are still flowering, so if i have missed any seeds, there should be more

[Kristl Walek]

Just a note on this particular species.

Seed of Corydalis aurea is not emphemeral. Can be stored dry. Frozen dry if needed long term (I still have seed in freezer collected in the Yukon 10 years ago--).

Capnoides (Corydalis) sempervirens is the same.

I second the comments about the seed pods made by Lesley and Maggi --- sometimes you can even "see" the dark, plump seeds through the closed pods if the light is coming from the right direction (am collecting Dicentras right now--same principle); that as well as the plumpness (tightness) of the pods, and opening a couple here and there to see where the seed is at & you won't go wrong.

[cohan]

thanks for added comments, kristl...i hadnt got back to this category for a long time...
good to know they are not ephemeral, i was wondering, as i had picked some some weeks ago, and not done anything with them; the tiny pods, which were plump when i harvested, had dried up, and i was a bit worried about them, but i crumbled the pods, and found some nice shiny little black seeds...