Cardamine flexuosa |
Cardamine microphylla |
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wavy bitter-cress, wood bitter-cress, woodland bitter-cress |
small-leaf bittercress |
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Habit | Annuals or biennials; sparsely to densely hirsute basally or throughout, or glabrous. | Perennials; usually glabrous, rarely sparsely hirtellous. |
Rhizomes | absent. |
cylindrical, slender, 0.7–1.5 mm diam. |
Stems | erect, ascending, or decumbent, branched or unbranched, (0.6–)1–5 dm, (slightly flexuous). |
erect or ascending, unbranched, 0.3–1.5(–2) dm. |
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 | pinnately 5 or 7-foliolate, (1.3–)2.5–6.5 cm, (not fleshy), leaflets petiolulate; petiole (0.5–)1.5–5.5 cm; lateral leaflets similar to terminal, blade sometimes smaller; terminal leaflet (petiolule 0.15–0.7 cm), blade ovate to elliptic, (0.2–)0.4–1.2(–1.5) cm × (1–)2.5–6 mm, base cuneate to obtuse, margins entire, (apiculate). |
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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). |
1–3, 5 or 7-foliolate, petiolate, leaflets petiolulate or subsessile; petiole 0.2–1.5 cm, base not auriculate; lateral leaflets similar to terminal; terminal leaflet (subsessile or petiolule to 0.2 cm), blade ovate to elliptic, 0.6–1.3 × 0.1–0.7 cm, base cuneate, margins entire. |
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 ovate to oblong, 3–4 × 1.8–2.5 mm, lateral pair slightly saccate basally; petals usually white, rarely lavender, broadly obovate, 7–10 × 3–6 mm, (clawed, apex rounded); filaments: median pairs 3–4.5 mm, lateral pair 2–3 mm; anthers oblong, 1–1.5 mm. |
Fruiting pedicels | divaricate or ascending, (5–)6–14(–17) mm. |
erect to ascending, 7–15(–25) 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, 2–3 cm × 1.2–1.7 mm; ovules 12–16 per ovary; style 1–2 mm. |
Seeds | brown, oblong or subquadrate, 0.9–1.5 × 0.6–1 mm, (narrowly margined or not). |
brown, oblong, ca. 1.5 × 1 mm. |
2n | = 32. |
= 28, 42, 64. |
Cardamine flexuosa |
Cardamine microphylla |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jul. | Flowering Jul–Aug. |
Habitat | Disturbed areas, fields, nurseries, plantations, gardens, flower beds, lawns, roadsides | Streamsides, sand and cobbles on gravel bars, shale banks, floodplains, alluvial sand between cobbles, moist moss, turf, seepage areas, meadows, wet grounds |
Elevation | 0-1100 m (0-3600 ft) | 0-1600 m (0-5200 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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AK; NT; YT; e Asia (Russian Far East, Siberia) |
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. 477. |
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. minuta |
Name authority | Withering: Arr. Brit. Pl. ed. 3, 3: 578. (1796) | Adams: Mém. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 5: 111. (1817) |
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