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

cuckoo bitter-cress, lady smock, northern field bitter-cress

bulb bittercress, bulbous bitter-cress, spring cress

Habit Perennials; (cespitose); glabrous. Perennials; glabrous or sparsely pubescent distally.
Rhizomes

absent.

(tuberous at stem base, sometimes also at intervals) subglobose, lobed, 4–15 mm diam. (fleshy).

Stems

erect, unbranched or, rarely, branched, 0.5–1.6(–3.5) dm.

erect, unbranched, (1–)2–6 dm, glabrous or sparsely pubescent on distal 1/2 (trichomes 0.02–0.1 mm).

Basal leaves

(7 or) 9–21-foliolate, (thick, veins impressed);

leaflets petiolulate or sessile;

lateral lobes or leaflets similar to terminal;

terminal lobe or leaflet blade orbicular, broadly ovate to lanceolate, base rounded to cuneate, margins usually entire.

Rhizomal leaves

simple, (2–)4–13(–16) cm;

petiole (1.5–)2.5–10(–13) cm;

blade usually reniform to cordate or ovate, rarely oblong, (1–)2–4(–6) cm, base obtuse to cordate, margins usually repand or entire, rarely shallowly dentate.

Cauline leaves

2–4(–7), pinnatisect or pinnately compound, (7 or) 9–21-foliolate, (thick, veins impressed), petiolate, leaflets petiolulate or sessile;

petiole base not auriculate;

lobes or leaflets (of proximal leaves) (4–)7–10 each side of rachis, fewer distally, distal leaves with 4 or 5 lobes or leaflets each side of rachis;

terminal leaflet petiolulate or sessile, blade (or lobe) narrowly lanceolate to lanceolate, base cuneate, margins entire.

(2–)4–10(–14), simple, petiolate or sessile; (middle ones) shortly petiolate or (distally) sessile, base not auriculate;

blade ovate to oblong, or oblong-linear to lanceolate, 3–6(–9) cm × 10–30(–45) mm, margins entire, repand, or dentate (margins minutely pubescent).

Racemes

ebracteate.

ebracteate.

Flowers

sepals oblong or ovate, 3.6–4.4 mm, lateral pair saccate basally, (green with hyaline margins);

petals white-lilac, 9–12.3 × 4.8–6.8 mm, (clawed, apex rounded or emarginate);

filaments: median pairs 3.5–4.5 mm, lateral pair 2–3 mm;

anthers narrowly oblong, 0.9–1.4 mm.

sepals oblong, 2.5–4.5 × 1.5–2 mm, lateral pair not saccate basally, (glabrous);

petals usually white, rarely pale pink, obovate, (6–)7–12(–16) × 3–5 mm, (short-clawed, apex rounded);

filaments: median pairs 4.5–7 mm, lateral pair 2–3.5 mm;

anthers oblong, 1–1.5 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

erect-ascending, 5–15 mm.

ascending to divaricate, (10–)15–22(–30) mm.

Fruits

linear, 1–1.8 cm × ca. 1.5 mm;

ovules ca. 16 per ovary;

style ca. 1 mm, (stout).

linear, 2–3.5(–4) cm × 1.4–1.7 mm;

ovules 14–24 per ovary;

style 2–4(–5) mm.

Seeds

brown, oblong, ca. 1.5 mm.

dark orange to greenish yellow, oblong or globose, 1.7–2.1 × 1–1.4 mm.

2n

= 56, 60, 64, 80–100.

= 16, 56, 64, 80, 96, 112.

Cardamine nymanii

Cardamine bulbosa

Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug. Flowering Mar–Jun.
Habitat Wet meadows, marshes, margins of ponds, along streams, seacoasts, swamps Wet grounds, low woodland, moss hummocks, alluvial woods, grassy floodplains, wet pastures, meadows, pinelands, creek bottoms, stream banks, sandy bottoms, ditches, mesic or wet forests, swamps, marshes, seepy bluffs
Elevation 0-900 m (0-3000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; MB; NL; NT; NU; QC; YT; Greenland; n Eurasia
[WildflowerSearch map]
[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; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; MB; ON; QC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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. nuttallii, 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. 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 C. pratensis var. angustifolia Arabis bulbosa, Arabis rhomboidea, C. rhomboidea, C. rhomboidea var. hirsuta, C. rhomboidea var. parviflora, C. rhomboidea var. pilosa, Dentaria rhomboidea, Dracamine bulbosa
Name authority Gandoger: Bull. Soc. Bot. France 72: 1043. (1925) (Schreber ex Muhlenberg) Britton: Prelim. Cat., 4. (1888)
Web links