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long's bitter-cress

Pennsylvania bitter-cress, pennsylvanian bitter-cress, Quaker bitter-cress

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

cylindrical, slender, 0.8–1.5 mm diam.

absent.

Stems

prostrate to decumbent or erect, unbranched or branched, 0.5–4(–6) dm.

(simple from base), erect, (not flexuous), unbranched or branched distally, (0.5–)1.5–5.5(–7) dm.

Basal leaves

(soon withered), not rosulate, similar to proximalmost cauline leaves, 4–15 cm.

Rhizomal leaves

absent.

Cauline leaves

3–10, usually simple, rarely 3 or 5-foliolate, petiolate;

petiolulate or sessile;

petiole 0.4–2.5 cm, base not auriculate;

lateral leaflets (when present) sessile or petiolulate (to 0.2 cm), blade similar to terminal, considerably smaller;

terminal leaflet blade orbicular to reniform or ovate to oblong, 0.4–3 cm × 3–20 mm, (somewhat fleshy), base subcordate to rounded or subtruncate, margins entire or repand, rarely undulate, (apex rounded).

(3–)5–20(–35), pinnately (5 or) 7–13(–19)-foliolate, sometimes appearing pinnatisect, lobe number similar to leaflets (middle and proximal ones 2–11 cm), petiolate, leaflets petiolulate, subsessile, or sessile;

petiole (0.4–)1–3.5(–4.5) cm, base not auriculate, (often sparsely hirsute);

lateral leaflets shortly petiolulate or sessile, (decurrent on rachis smaller than terminal, distalmost blades narrower, with fewer lobes or leaflets), margins entire or crenate;

terminal leaflet (subsessile or petiolule to 1 cm), blade suborbicular, obovate to oblanceolate, or elliptic, 1.3–3(–4) cm × 6–25 mm, base often cuneate, margins entire, repand, or obscurely 3 or 5-lobed.

Racemes

ebracteate.

ebracteate.

Flowers

sepals ovate, 0.7–1.2 × 0.5–0.7 mm, lateral pair not saccate basally;

petals absent or rudimentary, to 0.7 mm;

filaments 0.5–0.8 mm;

anthers ovate, 0.1–0.2 mm.

sepals oblong, (1–)1.3–2.3 × 0.5–1 mm, lateral pair not saccate basally;

petals white, narrowly spatulate to oblanceolate, 2–3.5(–4) × 0.8–1.5 mm, (not clawed);

filaments: median pairs 1.5–2.5 mm, lateral pair 1–2 mm;

anthers ovate, 0.2–0.3 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

divaricate-ascending to spreading, 0.5–2(–4) mm.

divaricate-ascending, (3–)4–10(–13) mm.

Fruits

narrowly oblong to linear, (3–)5–10(–15) × 0.8–1.2 mm;

ovules 6–22 per ovary;

style 0.2–0.5(–1) mm.

linear, (torulose), (1.4–)1.7–2.7(–3.2) cm × 0.8–1.1 mm;

ovules 40–80 per ovary;

style 0.5–1 mm.

Seeds

light or yellowish brown, oblong or ovoid, 1–1.4 × 0.7–1 mm.

brown, oblong to ovoid, 0.7–1.1 × 0.5–0.8 mm.

2n

= 32, 64.

Cardamine longii

Cardamine pensylvanica

Phenology Flowering Jun–Sep. Flowering Apr–Jul.
Habitat Tidal marshes, mud flats, tidal shores of rivers, shallow water, swampy areas, shady rocky crevices covered at high tide Marshes, streams, swamps, ditches, seepage, springs, lake margins, mesic bottomland and upland forests, wet areas, ledges of sheltered bluffs, banks and shallow water of streams and spring branches, margins of crop fields, waste ground
Elevation 0-10 m (0-0 ft) 0-2800 m (0-9200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
FL; MA; MD; ME; NC; NJ; NY; SC; VA
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; AL; AR; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

We have not seen material of Cardamine pensylvanica from Nebraska or South Dakota; it is very likely that the species grows in these states as well.

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

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 476. FNA vol. 7, p. 482.
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. impatiens, 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. nuttallii, C. nymanii, C. occidentalis, C. oligosperma, C. pachystigma, C. parviflora, C. pattersonii, C. penduliflora, C. pratensis, C. purpurea, C. rotundifolia, C. rupicola, C. umbellata
Synonyms C. breweri var. oregana, C. flexuosa subsp. pensylvanica, C. hirsuta var. pensylvanica, C. multifolia, C. oregana, C. pensylvanica var. brittoniana, C. rotundifolia var. diversifolia, Dracamine pensylvanica
Name authority Fernald: Rhodora 19: 91. (1917) Muhlenberg ex Willdenow: Sp. Pl. 3: 486. (1801)
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