Is Fumaria officinalis a perennial?

No, it is an annual plant that grows from seed each year.

Does it need full sun?

It prefers full sun to partial shade for best growth.

Plant guide

Common Fumitory.

Fumaria officinalis

Pronounced fyoo-MAIR-ee-uh oh-fiss-ih-NAH-liss

Also known as Common Fumitory, Drug fumitory, earth-smoke

Fumaria officinalis — Photo by Terry Instone (CC BY) via gbif

The common fumitory is a charming, delicate annual herb often found in disturbed soils and fields. It produces lovely spikes of pinkish purple flowers with dark tips. You will find it grows quickly in the cooler months of the year.

At a glance

Care level: Easy
Plant type: Annual herb
Light: Full sun to partial shade
Indoor light: Bright indirect
Water: Every 3 to 7 days
Mature size: 12 to 24 inches
Growth rate: Fast
Hardiness: USDA 4 to 9
Bloom time: Late spring to early autumn

Care

Keep the soil consistently moist but never soggy to mimic its natural habitat. Watch for wilting during dry spells, as this plant prefers cooler temperatures. It is a prolific self seeder, so pull it before it drops seeds if you want to control its spread.

Watering: Water whenever the top inch of soil feels dry to the touch.
Feeding: Apply a balanced liquid fertilizer once a month during the active growing season.
Pruning: Pinch back stems to encourage bushier growth and remove spent flowers to prevent unwanted seeding.
Repotting: Since this is an annual, you typically do not need to repot it, but you can refresh the soil if growing in a container.
Soil: Well draining loamy soil
Soil pH: 6.0 to 7.5
Temperature: -10 to 25°C
Humidity: 40 to 70%
Drought tolerance: Moderate
Lifespan: Annual, typically 1 year
Deer and rabbits: Moderate

Safety

People: All parts of the plant are toxic if ingested and may cause skin irritation upon contact.
Pets: This plant contains isoquinoline alkaloids and should be treated as potentially toxic to cats and dogs if eaten, so keep pets from chewing it.
Children: Keep this plant away from children as ingestion of any part can lead to poisoning.
Contact allergens: The sap can cause contact dermatitis in sensitive individuals.
Airborne allergens: Pollen may cause mild respiratory irritation during the flowering season.
Edibility: This plant is considered toxic and should not be consumed as it contains alkaloids that can cause serious health issues.

How to identify it

Finely divided feathery grey green leaves
Small tubular pink flowers with dark tips
Flowers arranged in dense terminal racemes
Trailing or climbing stems
Small rounded fruit capsules

Height: 0.1 to 0.5m
Spread: 0.1 to 0.3m
Leaves: blue-green, gray-green, deciduous
Flowers: pink, purple, white, 0.5 to 1cm
Fruit: green, brown, Summer

Problems to watch for

AphidsCommon
Powdery MildewCommon
RustUncommon
Slugs and SnailsUncommon

By symptom

Plant problems by symptom

Check your common fumitory from a photo

Pocket Botanist looks at a photo of your plant and tells you what's wrong and what to try first.

Growing it

Propagation: seed
When to plant: spring, autumn
Overwintering: The plant dies back completely in winter, so simply clear away the dead foliage once it has finished seeding.
In containers: It can grow in containers, but it is best suited for garden beds due to its weedy nature.

Seed

1. Collect seeds from dried pods in late summer.
2. Sow seeds directly into prepared soil in autumn or early spring.
3. Keep the soil lightly moist until germination occurs.

Plant this in areas where you want to support early season pollinators in disturbed soil patches.

Grows well with

Cornflower · They share similar habitat requirements and bloom times.
Common Poppy · Both are classic field flowers that thrive in disturbed soil.

Similar species

White Ramping-fumitory · It is a close relative with larger, cream-colored flowers.

Science

Family: Papaveraceae
Genus: Fumaria
Order: Ranunculales
Class: Magnoliopsida
Native range: Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia.
Conservation: It is a common agricultural weed and is not of conservation concern.

It thrives in disturbed, nutrient-rich soils often found in agricultural fields and gardens.

Value to wildlife: nectar source
Pollinators: bees, butterflies
Uses: herbal medicine history, pollinator garden

Through the year

JFMAMJJASOND

Flowering

Fruiting

Foliage

Ecological indicators

Salinity: 2/9
Soil reaction: 6/9
Light: 6/9
Temperature: 5/9
Moisture: 5/9
Nutrients: 7/9

Taxonomy resolved against GBIF.

Questions people ask

Is Fumaria officinalis a perennial?: No, it is an annual plant that grows from seed each year.
Does it need full sun?: It prefers full sun to partial shade for best growth.

Where the name comes from

The name Fumaria comes from the Latin fumus, meaning smoke, because the ancient belief was that the plant grew from smoke rising from the earth. The specific epithet officinalis indicates its historical use in medicine.

Good to know

It has been used in traditional medicine for centuries to treat skin conditions.
The flowers are shaped like tiny, tubular sacs.
It is often found growing in disturbed soil or cultivated fields.
The plant is an annual that completes its life cycle in one season.

Also in

Plants toxic to cats and dogs

Keep your common fumitory growing

This page is a general guide. Save your plant in Pocket Botanist and you get care reminders timed for this plant, plus a care history that shows what worked.

Get the app

This guide was generated with AI on September 23, 2026 and checked against GBIF taxonomy. It is general information, not horticultural or veterinary advice. Read about how we build these guides.