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Blue Ridge bittercress

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

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

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

absent.

Stems

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

(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

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).

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).

(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 (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, (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-ascending, 7–20 mm.

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

Fruits

linear, 1.5–2.5 cm × 1–1.2 mm;

ovules 10–14 per ovary;

style 1.2–2.5 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

brown, oblong, 1.2–1.7 × 0.8–1.1 mm.

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

2n

= 32, 64.

Cardamine flagellifera

Cardamine pensylvanica

Phenology Flowering Mar–Jun. Flowering Apr–Jul.
Habitat Moist wooded slopes, gorges, wooded ravines, seepage places 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 300-1000 m (1000-3300 ft) 0-2800 m (0-9200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
GA; NC; SC; TN; WV
[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. 474. 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. 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. 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 C. flagellifera var. hugeri, C. hugeri 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 O. E. Schulz: Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 32: 405. (1903) Muhlenberg ex Willdenow: Sp. Pl. 3: 486. (1801)
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