Cardamine blaisdellii
Cardamine californica
California toothwort, coast toothwort, milk maids, tooth wort
cylindrical, slender, 0.7–1.5 mm diam.
(tuberiform, fragile), globose to ovoid or suboblong, (3–)4–10 mm diam., (fleshy, deeply underground).
erect or ascending, unbranched, 0.5–2(–2.5) dm.
erect, unbranched, (2–)2.7–6(–7)dm, usually glabrous, rarely pubescent.
pinnately 5- or 7-foliolate, 2.5–12 cm (not fleshy), leaflets petiolulate;
petiole 1.5–4(–9) cm;
lateral leaflets similar to terminal, or smaller and margins usually toothed, rarely entire;
terminal leaflet (petiolule 0.15–0.3 cm) blade suborbicular to broadly obovate, 0.4–1.5 cm × 2.5–14 mm, base obtuse to subcordate, margins 3–5-toothed, (apiculate).
3 (or 5–7)-foliolate, sometimes simple, 8–25(–38) cm, leaflets petiolulate or subsessile;
petiole (5–)8–25(–32) cm;
lateral leaflets (when present) petiolulate to subsessile, blade similar to terminal, sometimes smaller;
terminal leaflet (petiolule (0.7–)2–5(–11) cm), blade (of simple leaf) ovate to orbicular to broadly cordate or reniform, (1.5–)2.5–7.5(–10) cm × (12–)20–90(–130) mm, base obtuse to cordate, margins entire or dentate to shallowly sinuate, (often with apiculae at veins ending at margin, sometimes minutely pubescent on veins).
1–3, (3–)5-foliolate (alternate), petiolate, leaflets petiolulate or subsessile;
petiole 0.2–2(–6.5) cm, base not auriculate;
lateral leaflets similar to terminal;
terminal leaflet subsessile or petiolulate (to 0.2 cm), blade obovate to oblanceolate, 0.5–1.5 cm × 3–10 mm, base cuneate, margins 3-toothed or entire.
2–5, usually 3 (or 5)-foliolate, rarely simple, petiolate, leaflets petiolulate or sessile;
petiole 1–5(–9) cm, base not auriculate;
lateral leaflets sessile, blade similar to terminal, smaller, margins usually dentate, rarely entire;
terminal leaflet sessile or petiolulate, blade usually broadly ovate to suborbicular or lanceolate, rarely narrowly oblong, 1–7 cm × (5–)10–47(–65) mm.
ebracteate.
ebracteate.
sepals oblong, 2–3.5 × 2–2.5 mm, lateral pair slightly saccate basally;
petals white, broadly obovate, 7–10 × 3–6 mm (clawed, apex rounded);
filaments: median pairs 3–4 mm, lateral pair 2–3 mm;
anthers oblong, 1–1.5 mm.
sepals (erect to ascending), oblong, 3.5–4.5(–5.5) × 1.5–2(–2.5) mm, lateral pair saccate basally;
petals white to pale rose, often broadly obovate, 8–13(–15) × 4–8 mm (clawed, apex rounded);
filaments: median pairs 4–6.5 mm, lateral pair 3–4 mm;
anthers oblong, 1.2–1.7 mm.
erect to ascending, 0.7–22 mm.
ascending to divaricate, 10–33(–41) mm.
linear, 1.6–4 cm × 1–1.3 mm;
ovules 14–24 per ovary;
style 0.7–3 mm.
linear, 2.2–5.4(–6) cm × 2–3 mm;
ovules 12–22 per ovary;
style 2–5(–6) mm.
brown, oblong, ca. 1.5 × 1 mm.
dark brown, oblong to broadly ovoid, 1.7–2.8 × 1.2–1.8 mm.
= 28, 42.
= 32.
Cardamine blaisdellii
Cardamine californica
Cardamine blaisdellii was treated by R. C. Rollins (1993) as a synonym of C. microphylla, but the morphological differences (see key) and molecular data (R. B. Jørgensen et al., 2008) clearly demonstrate that they are distinct.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
The synonymy above suggests that Schulz, Detling, and Rollins did not agree on the characters used or the number and rank of taxa recognized. The taxonomy of this complex is based solely on differences in the number of leaflets, their division, size, and shape, all other aspects of these plants (e.g., rhizomes, flowers, fruits, and seeds) being fairly uniform. Indeed, the infraspecific taxa recognized represent only part of the overall variation in the species, and one is faced with either recognizing poorly defined infraspecific taxa or treating the entire complex as a single polymorphic species. In the absence of thorough biosystematic and molecular studies on this group, we prefer not to recognize any infraspecific taxa.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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