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wavy bitter-cress, wood bitter-cress, woodland bitter-cress

alpine bitter-cress

Habit Annuals or biennials; sparsely to densely hirsute basally or throughout, or glabrous. Perennials (somewhat cespitose, subscapose); glabrous throughout.
Rhizomes

absent.

absent (caudex usually with slender, rarely stout, rhizomelike branches).

Stems

erect, ascending, or decumbent, branched or unbranched, (0.6–)1–5 dm, (slightly flexuous).

erect to ascending, branched (several), 0.1–0.8(–1.4) dm, glabrous.

Basal leaves

(often withered by anthesis), not rosulate, 5–15-foliolate, (2.7–)4–14(–19) cm, leaflets petiolulate;

petiole 0.7–5 cm, (ciliate or not);

lateral leaflet blade oblong, ovate, or elliptic, smaller than terminal, margins entire, repand, crenate, or 3 (or 5)-lobed;

terminal leaflet (petiolule 0.3–1.7 cm), blade reniform, broadly ovate, or suborbicular, 0.5–2.5 cm × 4–30 mm, margins repand, crenate, or 3 or 5-lobed.

rosulate, simple, (0.6–)1.2–5(–7) cm;

petiole (3–)1–3.5(–5.5) cm;

blade usually ovate to oblong, rarely oblanceolate to obovate, (0.4–)0.8–1.7(–2.5) cm × (2–)5–10(–16) mm, base cuneate to obtuse, margins usually entire, rarely repand or obtusely small-toothed (apex obtuse).

Cauline leaves

3–15, 5–15-foliolate [leaves (2–)3.5–5.5(–7) cm, including petiole], petiolate, leaflets petiolulate;

petiole base not auriculate;

lateral leaflets similar to basal, (0.4–2.5 mm wide).

0 or 1 (or 2), simple, shortly petiolate;

petiole base not auriculate;

blade similar to basal leaves, much smaller.

Racemes

ebracteate.

ebracteate.

Flowers

sepals oblong, 1.5–2.5 × 0.7–1 mm, lateral pair not saccate basally;

petals white, spatulate, 2.5–4(–5) × 1–1.7 mm; (stamens rarely 4, lateral pair absent);

filaments 2–3 mm;

anthers ovate, 0.3–0.5 mm.

sepals oblong, 2–3(–4) × 0.8–1.5(–2) mm, lateral pair not saccate basally;

petals white, oblanceolate, 4–5.5(–7) × 1.3–2(–2.5) mm (not clawed, apex rounded or emarginate);

filaments: median pairs 2.5–4 mm, lateral pair 2–3 mm;

anthers oblong, 0.5–0.9 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

divaricate or ascending, (5–)6–14(–17) mm.

ascending to erect, 3–6(–8) mm.

Fruits

linear, (torulose), (0.8–)1.2–2.8 cm × 1–1.5 mm;

ovules 18–40 per ovary;

style 0.3–1(–1.5) mm.

linear, (0.8–)1.3–2.8(–3.7) cm × 1.3–2 mm;

ovules 8–18 per ovary;

style 0.5–3 mm.

Seeds

brown, oblong or subquadrate, 0.9–1.5 × 0.6–1 mm, (narrowly margined or not).

brown, oblong, 1.5–2 × 0.9–1.2 mm.

2n

= 32.

= 16.

Cardamine flexuosa

Cardamine bellidifolia

Phenology Flowering Apr–Jul. Flowering Jun–Sep.
Habitat Disturbed areas, fields, nurseries, plantations, gardens, flower beds, lawns, roadsides Mossy areas, tundra, marshes at stream headwaters, cliffs, talus slopes, barren chert slopes, moist rock crevices, rocky slopes, alpine streams, sandy beaches, moist rocky streambeds
Elevation 0-1100 m (0-3600 ft) 0-2300 m (0-7500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; CA; FL; GA; IL; IN; LA; MD; MI; NC; NY; OH; OR; RI; TX; VA; WA; BC; NF; ON; Europe; e Asia [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, Central America, South America, Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; CA; ME; NH; OR; WA; AB; BC; LB; NT; NU; QC; YT; Greenland; n Europe; Asia (Russian Far East, Siberia)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

According to J. Lihová et al. (2006), the populations referred to Cardamine flexuosa in North America comprise two taxa of different polyploid origins and evolutionary histories: tetraploid C. flexuosa (2n = 32), native to Europe, and the octoploid taxon informally called “Asian C. flexuosa” (2n = 64), native to eastern Asia. For the latter, the name C. flexuosa subsp. debilis can be used. Nevertheless, these two taxa should be recognized at species level and the correct name for the Asian species should be sought. Based on available data, both taxa occupy the same habitats in North America, but the Asian taxon is much more widespread. The occurrence of European C. flexuosa was, until now, confirmed only for Washington, where both taxa have been recorded. More detailed studies of the North American distributions of both these weeds are needed.

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

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 474. FNA vol. 7, p. 468.
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. flagellifera, 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. 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. flexuosa subsp. debilis, C. flexuosa var. debilis, C. hirsuta subsp. flexuosa, C. scutata subsp. flexuosa C. bellidifolia var. beringensis, C. bellidifolia var. laxa, C. bellidifolia var. pachyphylla, C. bellidifolia var. pinnatifida
Name authority Withering: Arr. Brit. Pl. ed. 3, 3: 578. (1796) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 654. (1753)
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