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Holmgren's bitter-cress

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

Habit Perennials; glabrous throughout. Annuals or biennials; sparsely to densely hirsute basally or throughout, or glabrous.
Rhizomes

slender, 0.5–1 mm diam.

absent.

Stems

erect to ascending, branched, 1.5–2 dm.

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

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.

Cauline leaves

3 or 4, 3- or 5-foliolate, petiolate, leaflets petiolulate;

petiole 0.5–1.7 cm, base not auriculate;

lateral leaflet blade linear to linear-lanceolate, 0.9–1.5 cm × 1–3 mm, margins entire;

terminal leaflet (petiolule 0.3–0.5 cm), blade obovate to lanceolate (linear distally), 1.3–2.3 cm × 2–8 mm, base cuneate, margins entire or subapically 1- or 2-toothed.

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).

Racemes

ebracteate.

ebracteate.

Flowers

sepals oblong, 1.2–1.5 × 0.6–0.8 mm, lateral pair not saccate basally;

petals white, oblanceolate, 2–2.5 × 0.8–1 mm, (not clawed, apex rounded);

filaments: median pairs 1.5–1.8 mm, lateral pair 1–1.2 mm;

anthers ovate, 0.2–0.3 mm.

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.

Fruiting pedicels

ascending to suberect, 5–14 mm.

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

Fruits

linear, 1–2 cm × ca. 1 mm;

ovules 16–24 per ovary;

style 0.5–0.7 mm.

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.

Seeds

brown, oblong, 1.2–1.5 × 0.8–1 mm.

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

Rhizomal

and basal leaves absent.

2n

= 32.

Cardamine holmgrenii

Cardamine flexuosa

Phenology Flowering Jul–Aug. Flowering Apr–Jul.
Habitat Boggy slopes Disturbed areas, fields, nurseries, plantations, gardens, flower beds, lawns, roadsides
Elevation 0-1100 m (0-3600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
OR
[BONAP county map]
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]
Discussion

Cardamine holmgrenii is known only from the type collection, from the Blue Mountains in Baker County.

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

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. 475. FNA vol. 7, p. 474.
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. flexuosa, C. hirsuta, 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. 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
Name authority Al-Shehbaz: Harvard Pap. Bot. 11: 275. (2007) Withering: Arr. Brit. Pl. ed. 3, 3: 578. (1796)
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