The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

narrow-leaf bitter-cress

beautiful bitter-cress, beautiful bittercres, Nuttall's bittercress, Nuttall's toothwort, palmate toothwort, slender toothwort

Habit Biennials or, rarely, annuals; usually glabrous, rarely sparsely pubescent basally. Perennials; glabrous or sparsely pubescent.
Rhizomes

absent.

(tuberiform, fragile), with ovoid to oblong or cylindrical nodal swellings, slender, 2–5 mm diam., (fleshy).

Stems

erect, (angled, sometimes flexuous), unbranched basally, usually branched distally, (1.2–)2–6.5(–9) dm.

erect, unbranched, 0.5–2(–3) dm, glabrous or sparsely pubescent distally.

Basal leaves

(often withered by flowering), rosulate, similar to cauline, with fewer distal leaflets.

Rhizomal leaves

simple or 3 (or 5)-foliolate, (3–)4–20(–25) cm, leaflets petiolulate or subsessile;

petiole (2–)3–18(–21) cm;

lateral leaflets (when present) petiolulate to subsessile, blade similar to terminal, sometimes smaller;

terminal leaflet (subsessile or petiolule 0.2–3 cm), blade (simple leaf or terminal leaflet) reniform to suborbicular or ovate to oblong, (0.9–)1.3–4(–5.2) cm × (8–)12–50(–70) mm, base cordate to obtuse, margins crenate, dentate, or 5–7-lobed, (apiculae terminating teeth or lobes, surfaces glabrous).

Cauline leaves

9–24, (9–)13–25-foliolate, petiolate, leaflets petiolulate;

petiole 2–6 cm, base auriculate (auricles to 10 × 2.2 mm);

lateral leaflets similar to terminal, blade often smaller;

terminal leaflet (petiolule to 0.5 cm), blade orbicular, obovate, ovate, or lanceolate, 1–4(–5) cm × 5–17 mm, margins entire or 3–5(–9)-toothed or -lobed.

1–3, 3 (or 5)-foliolate, (appearing palmate), petiolate, leaflets petiolulate or sessile;

petiole (0.2–)0.5–2(–3) cm, base not auriculate;

lateral leaflets sessile, blade similar to terminal, smaller;

terminal leaflet petiolulate or sessile, blade broadly ovate to oblong or linear, (0.5–)1–3.5(–6) cm, margins usually entire or dentate, rarely lobed.

Racemes

ebracteate.

ebracteate.

Flowers

sepals oblong, 1.2–2(–2.5) × 0.7–1(–1.2) mm, lateral pair not saccate basally;

petals (rarely absent), white, oblanceolate, 1.5–4(–5) × 0.6–1.2 mm;

filaments 2–3(–4) mm;

anthers ovate, 0.3–0.5 mm.

sepals oblong, 3.5–5 × 1.5–2 mm, lateral pair saccate basally;

petals usually purple to pale pink, rarely white, obovate, 10–15 × 4–7.5 mm, (not clawed, apex rounded);

filaments: median pairs 5–8 mm, lateral pair 3.5–5 mm;

anthers oblong, 1.5–2 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

divaricate or ascending, 3.5–12(–15) mm.

ascending to divaricate, 10–35 mm.

Fruits

linear, (torulose), (1–)1.6–3(–3.5) cm × 0.9–1.5 mm; (valves glabrous or, rarely, pilose);

ovules 10–30 per ovary;

style 0.6–1.6(–2) mm.

linear, 2.5–5.6 cm × 2–2.3 mm;

ovules 8–16 per ovary;

style 4–8 mm.

Seeds

brown, oblong, 1.1–1.5 × 0.8–1 mm, (compressed, sometimes narrowly winged apically).

dark brown, oblong, 2–2.5 × 1.4–1.6 mm.

2n

= 16.

Cardamine impatiens

Cardamine nuttallii

Phenology Flowering May–Jul. Flowering Mar–May.
Habitat Streamsides, slopes, roadsides, fields, disturbed areas Open pine forests, damp woods, shaded bottomlands, mossy slopes, streamsides, shaded and moist hillsides
Elevation 0-200 m (0-700 ft) 150-1000 m (500-3300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CT; KY; MI; MN; NH; OH; PA; VA; WV; ON; Eurasia [Introduced in North America; introduced also in South Africa]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The infraspecific taxonomy of Cardamine nuttallii has been based almost entirely on the division and margin of rhizomal leaves. The treatments by O. E. Schulz (1903), L. E. Detling (1937), and R. C. Rollins (1993), though utilizing the same characters, varied considerably, especially in the application of names to varieties. The absence of rhizomal leaves on most specimens makes varietal determination an almost impossible task. Furthermore, leaf morphology is so highly variable that it is not useful for formally recognizing some of the other variants in the species. We therefore prefer to not subdivide the species.

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

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 476. FNA vol. 7, p. 478.
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. holmgrenii, 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. 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. impatiens var. angustifolia Dentaria tenella, C. californica var. gemmata, C. gemmata, C. nuttallii var. covilleana, C. nuttallii var. dissecta, C. nuttallii var. gemmata, C. nuttallii var. pulcherrima, C. pulcherrima, C. pulcherrima var. tenella, C. quercetorum, C. tenella var. covilleana, C. tenella var. dissecta, C. tenella var. quercetorum, Dentaria gemmata, Dentaria macrocarpa, Dentaria macrocarpa var. pulcherrima, Dentaria quercetorum, Dentaria tenella var. palmata, Dentaria tenella var. pulcherrima, Dentaria tenella var. quercetorum
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 655. (1753) Greene: Bull. Calif. Acad. Sci. 2: 389. (1887)
Web links