Cardamine maxima |
Cardamine pensylvanica |
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large toothwort |
Pennsylvania bitter-cress, pennsylvanian bitter-cress, Quaker bitter-cress |
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Habit | Perennials; glabrous (except leaflet margins and, sometimes, rachis). | Annuals or biennials; sparsely hirsute basally, glabrous distally. |
Rhizomes | cylindrical, 3–6 mm diam., (distinctly constricted at intervals, non-uniform diam., fleshy, slightly fragile, with dentate leaf scars). |
absent. |
Stems | erect, unbranched, 0.9–3(–4) 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. |
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Rhizomal leaves | 3-foliolate, 7–20 cm, leaflets petiolulate or subsessile; petiole 4–15 cm; lateral leaflets subsessile or petiolulate, blade often similar to terminal, base often oblique; terminal leaflet (petiolule 0.2–1(–1.7) cm), blade broadly ovate to oblong, 2–7.5 cm × 12–37 mm, base cuneate to obtuse, margins coarsely dentate to sharply incised, or deeply cleft into 2 or 3 lobes (lobes dentate or incised, margins puberulent). |
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Cauline leaves | 2 or 3, 3-foliolate, (rarely subopposite), petiolate, leaflets petiolulate or subsessile; petiole (0.5–)1–4(–6.5) cm, base not auriculate; lateral and terminal leaflets similar to rhizomal, distalmost sometimes much smaller. |
(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 (erect to ascending), oblong, 5–7 × 2–3 mm, lateral pair slightly saccate basally; petals white or pink, oblanceolate, 10–17 × 3–6 mm, (not clawed, apex rounded); filaments: median pairs 4–8 mm, lateral pair 3–6.5 mm; anthers linear, 1.7–2.7 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 | (flowering ones) horizontal to divaricate or deflexed, 7–20 mm. |
divaricate-ascending, (3–)4–10(–13) mm. |
Fruits | (undeveloped), linear-lanceolate, to 3 cm × 2 mm; ovules 10–14 per ovary; style 3.5–7 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 | not known. |
brown, oblong to ovoid, 0.7–1.1 × 0.5–0.8 mm. |
2n | = 120, 124, 132, 138, 156, 161, ca. 208. |
= 32, 64. |
Cardamine maxima |
Cardamine pensylvanica |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Apr–Jul. |
Habitat | Rich woods, shady ravines, ledges, moist alluvial bottoms, steep forested slopes, stream banks | 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 | 0-2800 m (0-9200 ft) | |
Distribution |
CT; MA; ME; MI; NJ; NY; OH; PA; VT; NB; ON; QC
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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
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Discussion | Cardamine maxima has not been found with mature fruits and seeds and it has long been suspected to be a hybrid between C. concatenata and C. diphylla. Molecular studies (P. W. Sweeney and R. A. Price 2000) indicate that C. maxima is distinct from both those species. Although we hesitate to maintain it as a species, its wide distribution and morphological distinctness warrant its recognition. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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. 477. | FNA vol. 7, p. 482. |
Parent taxa | Brassicaceae > tribe Cardamineae > Cardamine | Brassicaceae > tribe Cardamineae > Cardamine |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Dentaria maxima, C. anomala, Dentaria anomala | 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 | (Nuttall) Alph. Wood: Amer. Bot. Fl., 38. (1870) | Muhlenberg ex Willdenow: Sp. Pl. 3: 486. (1801) |
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