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slender toothwort

Habit Perennials; usually glabrous, rarely sparsely pubescent.
Rhizomes

(tuberiform, fragile) moniliform, segments fusiform, 3–6 mm diam. (fleshy).

Stems

erect, unbranched, 1.2–3(–4) dm, glabrous or pubescent.

Rhizomal leaves

3-foliolate, to 24 cm, leaflets petiolulate or subsessile;

petiole (3–)5–12(–16) cm;

lateral leaflets subsessile or petiolulate (0.2–1 cm), blade similar to terminal leaflet or smaller;

terminal leaflet (petiolule) (0.2–)0.5–1.5(–2) cm, blade broadly ovate to rhombic-obovate, 1.5–6(–8) cm, base usually cuneate, rarely subtruncate, margins coarsely dentate to crenate or 3-lobed, surfaces puberulent or not.

Cauline leaves

2 (or 3), 3-foliolate (usually alternate, rarely opposite, different in morphology from rhizomal), petiolate, leaflets petiolulate or sessile;

petiole 0.5–2 cm, base not auriculate;

lateral leaflets sessile, blade similar to terminal, smaller, margins usually dentate, rarely entire;

terminal leaflet sessile or petiolulate, blade narrowly lanceolate to narrowly oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 2–7 × 0.3–0.6 cm, margins minutely puberulent.

Racemes

ebracteate.

Flowers

sepals oblong, 5–7.5 × 1–2 mm, lateral pair slightly saccate basally;

petals purple to pale pink, oblanceolate, 9–18 × 2–5 mm (clawed, apex rounded);

filaments: median pairs 5–10 mm, lateral pair 3.5–8 mm;

anthers linear, 1.5–3 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

ascending to divaricate, 15–40 mm.

Fruits

linear, 2.5–4 cm × 1.5–2.5 mm;

ovules 8–12 per ovary;

style (5–)7–11 mm.

Seeds

dark brown, oblong, 2–2.5 × 1–1.5 mm.

2n

= ca. 128.

Cardamine angustata

Phenology Flowering Mar–May.
Habitat Moist woods, wooded ridges and bottomlands, floodplains, shady ravines, streambeds
Elevation 300-1300 m (1000-4300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; DC; DE; GA; IN; KY; MD; MS; NC; NJ; OH; PA; SC; TN; VA; WV
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Discussion

Cardamine heterophylla (Nuttall) Alph. Wood (1870), not Host (1797) is an illegitimate name, sometimes found in synonymy with C. angustata.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 467.
Parent taxa Brassicaceae > tribe Cardamineae > Cardamine
Sibling taxa
C. angulata, C. bellidifolia, C. blaisdellii, C. breweri, C. bulbosa, C. californica, C. clematitis, C. concatenata, C. constancei, C. cordifolia, C. digitata, C. diphylla, C. dissecta, C. douglassii, C. flagellifera, C. flexuosa, C. hirsuta, C. holmgrenii, C. impatiens, C. longii, C. macrocarpa, C. maxima, C. micranthera, C. microphylla, C. nuttallii, C. nymanii, C. occidentalis, C. oligosperma, C. pachystigma, C. parviflora, C. pattersonii, C. penduliflora, C. pensylvanica, C. pratensis, C. purpurea, C. rotundifolia, C. rupicola, C. umbellata
Synonyms C. angustata var. ouachitana, Dentaria heterophylla
Name authority O. E. Schulz: Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 32: 349. (1903)
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