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largeseed bittercress

cut-leaf toothwort

Habit Annuals; glabrous or sparsely puberulent. Perennials; usually sparsely pubescent, sometimes glabrous.
Rhizomes

absent.

(tuberiform, fragile), moniliform, segments fusiform, 2–10(–20) mm diam. (fleshy).

Stems

(simple or several from base), erect or decumbent, (flexuous or straight, narrowly winged-angled), unbranched or branched distally, (1.4–)2–4.5(–5.3) dm.

erect, unbranched, (1–)2–4(–5.5) dm, glabrous or pubescent distally.

Basal leaves

(soon withered), not rosulate.

Rhizomal leaves

3-foliolate, (7–)10–20(–30) cm, leaflets sessile;

petiole (4–)7–18(–25) cm;

lateral leaflets similar to terminal, blade sometimes smaller;

terminal leaflet blade oblong, lanceolate, oblanceolate, or linear, 2.5–6 cm, base cuneate, margins coarsely dentate to incised, laciniate, or 3-lobed (lobes usually toothed to incised, rarely entire, surfaces puberulent or not, trichomes 0.2–0.3 mm).

Cauline leaves

3–9, middle ones 5–9-foliolate, petiolate, leaflets petiolulate or subsessile;

petiole 1–3 cm, base not auriculate;

lateral leaflets similar to terminal, blade often smaller, with oblique base, distal leaflets subsessile, blade smaller and narrower distally;

terminal leaflet (petiolule 0.2–0.8 cm), blade usually broadly ovate to narrowly lanceolate, rarely oblong, 0.7–2 cm × 2–10 mm, base cuneate to rounded, margins repand, crenate, or 3-lobed.

(2 or) 3, 3-foliolate (usually whorled or opposite, rarely alternate, similar in morphology to rhizomal leaves), petiolate, leaflets petiolulate or subsessile;

petiole (1–)1.5–6(–7.5) cm, base not auriculate;

lateral leaflets sessile, blade similar to terminal, sometimes smaller;

terminal leaflet subsessile or petiolulate (to 3 cm), blade lanceolate, linear, or oblanceolate, (3–)4–10(–12) cm × (3–)5–20(–25) mm, margins usually coarsely dentate to incised, rarely subentire (margins minutely puberulent).

Racemes

ebracteate, (rachis slightly to strongly flexuous or geniculate).

ebracteate.

Flowers

sepals oblong, 2–3.5 × 0.7–1.2 mm, lateral pair not saccate basally;

petals white, linear, 6–8 × 0.7–1 mm;

filaments: median pairs 4–5 mm, lateral pair 3.5–4 mm;

anthers oblong, 0.7–1 mm.

sepals oblong, (4–)5–8 × 2–4 mm, lateral pair slightly saccate basally;

petals white to pale pink, oblanceolate, (8–)10–20 × (3–)4–7(–9) mm, (short-clawed, apex rounded);

filaments: median pairs 8–12 mm, lateral pair 6–8 mm;

anthers oblong-linear, 1.5–2.5 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

horizontal to divaricate or ascending, (3–)4–9(–12) mm.

ascending to divaricate, (6–)10–27(–33) mm.

Fruits

linear, (2.5–)3–4.6 cm × 1.7–2.1 mm;

ovules 14–22 per ovary;

style 1–3 mm.

linear-lanceolate, (2–)2.5–3.8(–4.8) cm × 1.5–3 mm; (valves glabrous or sparsely pubescent);

ovules 10–14 per ovary;

style (2–)5–9(–12) mm.

Seeds

dark brown, oblong, 2–2.5 × 0.9–1.2 mm.

brown, oblong, 1.6–3 × 1.8–2 mm.

2n

= 128–256.

Cardamine macrocarpa

Cardamine concatenata

Phenology Flowering Mar–Sep. Flowering Feb–May.
Habitat Rock crevices and ledges, gravel bars of mountain streams, moist rocky stream banks, shaded loamy forest floors Wooded bottoms and bluffs, rich woods, limestone cliffs and outcrops, rocky banks, mesic forests, moist areas with leaf litter, floodplain woods
Elevation 0-1000 m (0-3300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
TX; Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo León)
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; ON; QC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Cardamine macrocarpa is known from the Chisos Mountains, Brewster County.

The characters by which var. texana is said to differ from var. macrocarpa are artificially drawn, and the style length, presence or absence of indumentum on the pedicels, and degree of flexuosity of the raceme rachises do not correlate and can vary within a given area. For these reasons, we do not recognize infraspecific taxa in Cardamine macrocarpa.

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

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 476. FNA vol. 7, p. 470.
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. longii, 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. 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. pensylvanica, C. pratensis, C. purpurea, C. rotundifolia, C. rupicola, C. umbellata
Synonyms C. macrocarpa var. texana Dentaria concatenata, C. laciniata var. integra, C. laciniata var. lasiocarpa, Dentaria laciniata, Dentaria laciniata var. alterna, Dentaria laciniata var. coalescens, Dentaria laciniata var. integra, Dentaria laciniata var. latifolia, Dentaria laciniata var. opposita
Name authority Brandegee: Zoë 5: 233. (1906) (Michaux) O. Schwarz: Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 46: 188. (1939)
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