Cardamine flexuosa |
Cardamine flagellifera |
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wavy bitter-cress, wood bitter-cress, woodland bitter-cress |
Blue Ridge bittercress |
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Habit | Annuals or biennials; sparsely to densely hirsute basally or throughout, or glabrous. | Perennials; hirsute or pilose proximally, sparsely pubescent or glabrous distally. |
Rhizomes | absent. |
swollen, compact at stem base, (fleshy, stolons many, slender, ca. 1 mm diam., pubescent or glabrous). |
Stems | erect, ascending, or decumbent, branched or unbranched, (0.6–)1–5 dm, (slightly flexuous). |
erect, usually unbranched, rarely branched distally, 1–2.5 dm, sparsely to densely hirsute or pilose proximally, sparsely so or glabrous distally. |
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. |
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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). |
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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). |
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). |
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 (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. |
Fruiting pedicels | divaricate or ascending, (5–)6–14(–17) mm. |
ascending to divaricate-ascending, 7–20 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, 1.5–2.5 cm × 1–1.2 mm; ovules 10–14 per ovary; style 1.2–2.5 mm. |
Seeds | brown, oblong or subquadrate, 0.9–1.5 × 0.6–1 mm, (narrowly margined or not). |
brown, oblong, 1.2–1.7 × 0.8–1.1 mm. |
2n | = 32. |
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Cardamine flexuosa |
Cardamine flagellifera |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jul. | Flowering Mar–Jun. |
Habitat | Disturbed areas, fields, nurseries, plantations, gardens, flower beds, lawns, roadsides | Moist wooded slopes, gorges, wooded ravines, seepage places |
Elevation | 0-1100 m (0-3600 ft) | 300-1000 m (1000-3300 ft) |
Distribution |
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]
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GA; NC; SC; TN; WV |
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.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 7, p. 474. | FNA vol. 7, p. 474. |
Parent taxa | Brassicaceae > tribe Cardamineae > Cardamine | Brassicaceae > tribe Cardamineae > Cardamine |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | C. flexuosa subsp. debilis, C. flexuosa var. debilis, C. hirsuta subsp. flexuosa, C. scutata subsp. flexuosa | C. flagellifera var. hugeri, C. hugeri |
Name authority | Withering: Arr. Brit. Pl. ed. 3, 3: 578. (1796) | O. E. Schulz: Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 32: 405. (1903) |
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