The largest number of habitats was found in the basin of the upper and middle Parsęta river and its tributaries, Wogra [pl] and Dębnica [pl], in Western Pomerania (about 20), as well as in Greater Poland in the region of Śrem, Borek Wielkopolski and in the Lutynia river basin.

The most numerous population of the species is found in the vicinity of Kamieniec on the Lower Oder river (the area of Professor Janina Jasnowska's Kamienieckie Wąwozy nature reserve).

[4] Two (rarely three) on the main shoot, on long petioles, with the blade in outline broadly triangular, doubly or triply ternate.

Individual lilac-purple flowers grow on short peduncles (up to 2 mm long) in the axils of deeply palmately lobed bracts, having 4 to 7 patches.

The petals of the outer whorl form an upper and lower lip, with the former drawn back into a long spur.

In Central Europe, Corydalis solida has a similar habit; its flowers are supported by divided bracts, although these are attached to stalks exceeding 4 mm in length (which elongate further during fruiting), while the flower and fruit stalks in Corydalis pumila always reach up to 2 mm.

Thanks to the reserve substances (starch)[4] stored in the tuber, the plant quickly develops an aboveground shoot and blooms very early in the spring.

Due to the elongated shape of the flower crown, insects with a proboscis at least 7–8 mm long can get to the nectar and accomplish pollination.

Usually these are the hymenoptera: Anthophora acervorum, various species of the genus Bombus, the Western honeybee, and of butterflies, especially the common brimstone.

At longer distances they are sometimes carried by water (floating on its surface), similarly to tubers, which can end up in watercourses as a result of landslides.

They retain their ability to germinate only if they have enough moisture in the summer (in dried seeds the embryo dies), and if they are cooled during the winter.

The seedlings of Corydalis pumila, as in many other representatives of this genus, are distinguished among dicotyledonous plants by forming only a single cotyledon.

During germination, a short primary root and hypocotyl develop – the cotyledon is raised above the soil surface on a long petiole.

[4] Corydalis pumila grows in a variety of forest and shrub communities on fairly rich,[4] humus-filled soils, except where a thick layer of poorly decomposed leaves is present.

It is often found on the slopes of river and stream valleys and on their bottoms, on uplifted, occasionally flooded sediments.

[4] It also invades xerothermic grasslands adjacent to forests and thickets, wet meadows[5] and even mowed lawns.

[4] Among the species most often accompanying in the undergrowth of Corydalis pumila are: pilewort (Ficaria verna), ivy-leaved speedwell (Veronica hederifolia), wood bluegrass (Poa nemoralis), and numerous geophytes from genera: yellow star-of-Bethlehem (Gagea), Adoxa, windflowers (Anemone), winter aconite (Eranthis), squills (Scilla) and other species of the genus Corydalis.

Also frequent are nitrophilous forest and fringe species: St. Benedict's herb (Geum urbanum), cleavers (Galium aparine) and garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata).

Where such nitrophilous plants as common nettle (Urtica dioica), ground elder (Aegopodium podagraria) and cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris) grow strongly, Corydalis pumila does not occur.

When the pre-spring is warm, these slugs can appear en masse during the flowering time of the Corydalis pumila, causing serious damage to all parts of the plant, significantly reducing the effectiveness of their reproduction.

Feeding by insects on Corydalis pumila is rare, except for bumblebees sometimes biting through the flower spur to access nectar.

[4] In the Czech Republic, where the habitats of clouded Apollo and Corydalis pumila overlap, it is the main host plant for the larvae of this butterfly.

[4] Morphological variability within the species is rather low, and the recorded differences in the number of flowers and the dimensions of the shoot and leaves are explained by the influence of habitat conditions.

[4] The species is considered endangered where it is particularly rare: in Poland, Austria, Romania, German Brandenburg and Thuringia.