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Blue Ridge bittercress

slender toothwort

Habit Perennials; hirsute or pilose proximally, sparsely pubescent or glabrous distally. Perennials; usually glabrous, rarely sparsely pubescent.
Rhizomes

swollen, compact at stem base, (fleshy, stolons many, slender, ca. 1 mm diam., pubescent or glabrous).

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

Stems

erect, usually unbranched, rarely branched distally, 1–2.5 dm, sparsely to densely hirsute or pilose proximally, sparsely so or glabrous distally.

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

Rhizomal leaves

usually simple, rarely 3-foliolate, (3–)6–16 cm, leaflets petiolulate or subsessile;

petiole (1.5–)4–13 cm;

lateral leaflets subsessile or petiolulate (to 0.5 cm), blade similar to terminal, much smaller;

terminal leaflet (petiolule 0.5–2 cm), blade orbicular to reniform or broadly ovate, (1–)1.5–4.5 cm, base cordate, margins repand to coarsely crenate, (apiculate at vein endings, surfaces sparsely pubescent or glabrous).

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

2–5, 3 or 5-foliolate, petiolate, leaflets petiolulate or subsessile;

petiole 0.8–5 cm, base not auriculate;

lateral leaflets sessile or petiolulate (to 0.5 cm), blade similar to terminal, smaller;

terminal leaflet petiolulate (0.5–1.5 cm), blade broadly ovate to suborbicular, 1.5–4(–5) cm × 12–35 mm, margins repand to coarsely crenate or slightly lobed, (apiculate at vein endings, margins glabrous).

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.

ebracteate.

Flowers

sepals (ascending) oblong, 3–3.5 × 1–1.5 mm, lateral pair not saccate basally;

petals white, oblanceolate, 5–6.5(–8) × 1.5–2.5 mm, (not clawed, apex obtuse to subemarginate);

filaments: median pairs 3.5–5 mm, lateral pair 2.5–3 mm;

anthers oblong, 1.2–1.6 mm.

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-ascending, 7–20 mm.

ascending to divaricate, 15–40 mm.

Fruits

linear, 1.5–2.5 cm × 1–1.2 mm;

ovules 10–14 per ovary;

style 1.2–2.5 mm.

linear, 2.5–4 cm × 1.5–2.5 mm;

ovules 8–12 per ovary;

style (5–)7–11 mm.

Seeds

brown, oblong, 1.2–1.7 × 0.8–1.1 mm.

dark brown, oblong, 2–2.5 × 1–1.5 mm.

2n

= ca. 128.

Cardamine flagellifera

Cardamine angustata

Phenology Flowering Mar–Jun. Flowering Mar–May.
Habitat Moist wooded slopes, gorges, wooded ravines, seepage places Moist woods, wooded ridges and bottomlands, floodplains, shady ravines, streambeds
Elevation 300-1000 m (1000-3300 ft) 300-1300 m (1000-4300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
GA; NC; SC; TN; WV
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; DC; DE; GA; IN; KY; MD; MS; NC; NJ; OH; PA; SC; TN; VA; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[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.)

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 474. FNA vol. 7, p. 467.
Parent taxa Brassicaceae > tribe Cardamineae > Cardamine Brassicaceae > tribe Cardamineae > Cardamine
Sibling taxa
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. 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. 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. flagellifera var. hugeri, C. hugeri C. angustata var. ouachitana, Dentaria heterophylla
Name authority O. E. Schulz: Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 32: 405. (1903) O. E. Schulz: Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 32: 349. (1903)
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