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bulb bittercress, bulbous bitter-cress, spring cress

Pennsylvania bitter-cress, pennsylvanian bitter-cress, Quaker bitter-cress

Habit Perennials; glabrous or sparsely pubescent distally. Annuals or biennials; sparsely hirsute basally, glabrous distally.
Rhizomes

(tuberous at stem base, sometimes also at intervals) subglobose, lobed, 4–15 mm diam. (fleshy).

absent.

Stems

erect, unbranched, (1–)2–6 dm, glabrous or sparsely pubescent on distal 1/2 (trichomes 0.02–0.1 mm).

(simple from base), erect, (not flexuous), unbranched or branched distally, (0.5–)1.5–5.5(–7) dm.

Basal leaves

(soon withered), not rosulate, similar to proximalmost cauline leaves, 4–15 cm.

Rhizomal leaves

simple, (2–)4–13(–16) cm;

petiole (1.5–)2.5–10(–13) cm;

blade usually reniform to cordate or ovate, rarely oblong, (1–)2–4(–6) cm, base obtuse to cordate, margins usually repand or entire, rarely shallowly dentate.

Cauline leaves

(2–)4–10(–14), simple, petiolate or sessile; (middle ones) shortly petiolate or (distally) sessile, base not auriculate;

blade ovate to oblong, or oblong-linear to lanceolate, 3–6(–9) cm × 10–30(–45) mm, margins entire, repand, or dentate (margins minutely pubescent).

(3–)5–20(–35), pinnately (5 or) 7–13(–19)-foliolate, sometimes appearing pinnatisect, lobe number similar to leaflets (middle and proximal ones 2–11 cm), petiolate, leaflets petiolulate, subsessile, or sessile;

petiole (0.4–)1–3.5(–4.5) cm, base not auriculate, (often sparsely hirsute);

lateral leaflets shortly petiolulate or sessile, (decurrent on rachis smaller than terminal, distalmost blades narrower, with fewer lobes or leaflets), margins entire or crenate;

terminal leaflet (subsessile or petiolule to 1 cm), blade suborbicular, obovate to oblanceolate, or elliptic, 1.3–3(–4) cm × 6–25 mm, base often cuneate, margins entire, repand, or obscurely 3 or 5-lobed.

Racemes

ebracteate.

ebracteate.

Flowers

sepals oblong, 2.5–4.5 × 1.5–2 mm, lateral pair not saccate basally, (glabrous);

petals usually white, rarely pale pink, obovate, (6–)7–12(–16) × 3–5 mm, (short-clawed, apex rounded);

filaments: median pairs 4.5–7 mm, lateral pair 2–3.5 mm;

anthers oblong, 1–1.5 mm.

sepals oblong, (1–)1.3–2.3 × 0.5–1 mm, lateral pair not saccate basally;

petals white, narrowly spatulate to oblanceolate, 2–3.5(–4) × 0.8–1.5 mm, (not clawed);

filaments: median pairs 1.5–2.5 mm, lateral pair 1–2 mm;

anthers ovate, 0.2–0.3 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

ascending to divaricate, (10–)15–22(–30) mm.

divaricate-ascending, (3–)4–10(–13) mm.

Fruits

linear, 2–3.5(–4) cm × 1.4–1.7 mm;

ovules 14–24 per ovary;

style 2–4(–5) mm.

linear, (torulose), (1.4–)1.7–2.7(–3.2) cm × 0.8–1.1 mm;

ovules 40–80 per ovary;

style 0.5–1 mm.

Seeds

dark orange to greenish yellow, oblong or globose, 1.7–2.1 × 1–1.4 mm.

brown, oblong to ovoid, 0.7–1.1 × 0.5–0.8 mm.

2n

= 16, 56, 64, 80, 96, 112.

= 32, 64.

Cardamine bulbosa

Cardamine pensylvanica

Phenology Flowering Mar–Jun. Flowering Apr–Jul.
Habitat Wet grounds, low woodland, moss hummocks, alluvial woods, grassy floodplains, wet pastures, meadows, pinelands, creek bottoms, stream banks, sandy bottoms, ditches, mesic or wet forests, swamps, marshes, seepy bluffs Marshes, streams, swamps, ditches, seepage, springs, lake margins, mesic bottomland and upland forests, wet areas, ledges of sheltered bluffs, banks and shallow water of streams and spring branches, margins of crop fields, waste ground
Elevation 0-900 m (0-3000 ft) 0-2800 m (0-9200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; MB; ON; QC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; AL; AR; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

We have not seen material of Cardamine pensylvanica from Nebraska or South Dakota; it is very likely that the species grows in these states as well.

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

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 469. FNA vol. 7, p. 482.
Parent taxa Brassicaceae > tribe Cardamineae > Cardamine Brassicaceae > tribe Cardamineae > Cardamine
Sibling taxa
C. angulata, C. angustata, C. bellidifolia, C. blaisdellii, C. breweri, 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. pratensis, C. purpurea, C. rotundifolia, C. rupicola, C. umbellata
Synonyms Arabis bulbosa, Arabis rhomboidea, C. rhomboidea, C. rhomboidea var. hirsuta, C. rhomboidea var. parviflora, C. rhomboidea var. pilosa, Dentaria rhomboidea, Dracamine bulbosa C. breweri var. oregana, C. flexuosa subsp. pensylvanica, C. hirsuta var. pensylvanica, C. multifolia, C. oregana, C. pensylvanica var. brittoniana, C. rotundifolia var. diversifolia, Dracamine pensylvanica
Name authority (Schreber ex Muhlenberg) Britton: Prelim. Cat., 4. (1888) Muhlenberg ex Willdenow: Sp. Pl. 3: 486. (1801)
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