Flora of North America species comparison

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Cardamine nuttallii

Cardamine breweri

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

Brewer's bitter-cress, round bittercress
Habit Perennials; glabrous or sparsely pubescent. Perennials; usually glabrous, rarely sparsely pubescent basally.
Rhizomes

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

cylindrical, slender (rarely slightly thickened at stem base), 1–3(–4) mm diam.
Stems

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

erect or decumbent basally, unbranched or branched, (0.6–)1.5–6(–7) dm.
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).

absent.
Cauline leaves

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.

3–8(–11), 3 or 5-foliolate (rarely only terminal leaflet present), petiolate, leaflets petiolulate or subsessile;

petiole (0.7–)1–4(–6) cm, base not auriculate;

lateral leaflets (when present) subsessile or petiolulate (to 0.4 cm), blade similar to terminal, often much smaller and narrower than terminal;

terminal leaflet (petiolule 0.4–1.6 cm), blade usually ovate to orbicular, rarely subcordate, 1.5–4(–5) cm × 15–35(–50) mm, base truncate, rounded, or cordate, margins crenate, dentate, sinuate, or to 11-lobed.
Racemes

ebracteate.

ebracteate.
Flowers

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.

sepals oblong, 2–3(–3.8) × 1–1.5 mm, lateral pair not saccate basally;

petals white, oblanceolate, 3.5–6(–7) × 1.5–2.5(–3) mm (not clawed, apex rounded or ± emarginate);

filaments: median pairs 2.5–3.5 mm, lateral pair 2–2.5 mm;

anthers oblong, 0.7–1 mm.
Fruiting pedicels

ascending to divaricate, 10–35 mm.

ascending to divaricate-ascending, (7–)10–20 mm.
Fruits

linear, 2.5–5.6 cm × 2–2.3 mm;

ovules 8–16 per ovary;

style 4–8 mm.

linear, 1.5–3.5 cm × 1–1.5 mm;

ovules 14–28 per ovary;

style 0.2–1.5(–2.5) mm.
Seeds

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

brown, oblong, 1–1.6 × 0.9–1.1 mm.

Cardamine nuttallii

Cardamine breweri
Phenology Flowering Mar–May. Flowering Jun–Jul.
Habitat Open pine forests, damp woods, shaded bottomlands, mossy slopes, streamsides, shaded and moist hillsides Stream banks, seepage, lakeshores, creeks, wet meadows, swamps, ponds
Elevation 150-1000 m (500-3300 ft) 1200-3000 m (3900-9800 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; 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. 478. FNA vol. 7, p. 469.
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. 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
C. angulata, C. angustata, C. bellidifolia, C. blaisdellii, 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. pensylvanica, C. pratensis, C. purpurea, C. rotundifolia, C. rupicola, C. umbellata
Synonyms 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 C. breweri var. leibergii, C. breweri var. orbicularis, C. breweri var. oregana, C. callosicrenata, C. foliacea, C. hederifolia, C. leibergii, C. modocensis, C. orbicularis, C. oregana, C. vallicola, C. vallicola subsp. leibergii
Name authority Greene: Bull. Calif. Acad. Sci. 2: 389. (1887) S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 10: 339. (1875)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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