A foundling that my wife spotted on the spoil heap of old gritty compost from unsuccessful sowings and reject stock. I believe this is a hybrid between C. malkensis and C. solida, both of which are well represented in my potted collection and in the garden close to where 'Lipstick' was found. The bracts indicate that C. malkensis is very likely to be involved and the lip colour implicates C. solida. So Corydalis 'Lentune Lipstick' almost certainly represents C. malkensis x solida or perhaps the reverse cross C. solida x malkensis. Since the plant was a foundling not only are we uncertain of the parents but also we cannot know which was the seed parent and which the pollen parent. The monograph 'Corydalis' by Magnus Liden and Henrik Zetterlund tells us that "Being a tetraploid, C. malkensis will contribute two thirds of the genetic material in hybrids with diploid species and so hybrids will be very similar to the tetraploid parent". 

'Lipstick' has flowered consistently from 2016 onwards but I’ve never found any seed. This helps confirm its hybrid composition and is in stark contrast to the putative parents both of which are prolific seeders.

The 'Lipstick' idea was an obvious one!