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slender toothwort

cliff bittercress

Habit Perennials; usually glabrous, rarely sparsely pubescent. Perennials; glabrous throughout.
Rhizomes

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

cylindrical, slender, 1–2 mm diam.

Stems

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

erect or decumbent at base, unbranched, 0.6–2 dm.

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.

palmately or subpalmately compound, 3 or 5 (or 7)-foliolate, 5.5–17(–22) cm, (fleshy), petiolate, leaflets petiolulate or subsessile;

petiole 4–14(–17) cm;

lateral leaflets subsessile, blade similar to terminal, sometimes smaller;

terminal leaflet (petiolule 0.1–0.5 cm), blade ovate to lanceolate or elliptic-oblong, 1–3 cm × 6–17 mm, base cuneate or obtuse, margins entire, (apiculate).

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.

2 or 3, 3 or 5-foliolate, petiolate, leaflets petiolulate or sessile;

petiole 0.7–4(–8) cm, base not auriculate;

lateral leaflets sessile, blade similar to terminal, smaller;

terminal leaflet petiolulate (0.1–0.5 cm), blade elliptic to oblong, or ovate, 1.2–3.5 cm × 4–25 mm, margins entire.

Racemes

ebracteate.

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.

sepals oblong, 3–5 × 1.5–2 mm, lateral pair saccate basally;

petals white, obovate, 8–14 × 4–7 mm, (short-clawed, apex rounded or subemarginate);

filaments: median pairs 4–5 mm, lateral pair 2.5–3.5 mm;

anthers oblong, 1–1.2 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

ascending to divaricate, 15–40 mm.

ascending to divaricate, 6–18 mm.

Fruits

linear, 2.5–4 cm × 1.5–2.5 mm;

ovules 8–12 per ovary;

style (5–)7–11 mm.

linear, 2–4 cm × 1.5–2.2 mm;

ovules 10–14 per ovary;

style 1–5 mm.

Seeds

dark brown, oblong, 2–2.5 × 1–1.5 mm.

brown, oblong, 1.8–2.2 × 1.2–1.5 mm.

2n

= ca. 128.

Cardamine angustata

Cardamine rupicola

Phenology Flowering Mar–May. Flowering Jul–Aug.
Habitat Moist woods, wooded ridges and bottomlands, floodplains, shady ravines, streambeds Limestone talus slopes, loose limey shale, moist banks
Elevation 300-1300 m (1000-4300 ft) 2200-2700 m (7200-8900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; DC; DE; GA; IN; KY; MD; MS; NC; NJ; OH; PA; SC; TN; VA; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
MT
[BONAP county map]
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.)

Cardamine rupicola is known from Flathead, Lewis and Clarke, and Missoula counties.

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

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 467. FNA vol. 7, p. 483.
Parent taxa Brassicaceae > tribe Cardamineae > Cardamine 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
C. angulata, C. angustata, 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. umbellata
Synonyms C. angustata var. ouachitana, Dentaria heterophylla C. californica var. rupicola, Dentaria rupicola
Name authority O. E. Schulz: Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 32: 349. (1903) (O. E. Schulz) C. L. Hitchcock: in C. L. Hitchcock et al., Vasc. Pl. Pacif. N.W. 2: 474. (1964)
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