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

Constance's bittercress

Habit Perennials; (cespitose); glabrous. Perennials; glabrous or sparsely hirsute.
Rhizomes

absent.

cylindrical, slender, to 2 mm diam.

Stems

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

erect, unbranched, 1.5–5 dm, glabrous or sparsely hirsute basally.

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

absent.

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.

4–7, simple, (crowded distally), petiolate;

petiole (0.5–)1–4(–5) cm, base not auriculate;

blade usually broadly ovate or ovate-lanceolate to ovate-elliptic, rarely obovate, 5–13 cm × 20–65 mm, base cuneate, margins coarsely serrate (with apiculae), or repand to undulate (margins minutely pubescent, apex acute).

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, 6–8 × 2–2.5 mm, lateral pair slightly saccate basally;

petals pink, oblanceolate, 15–28 × 5–8 mm, (claw to 10 mm, apex rounded);

filaments: median pairs 8–10 mm, lateral pair 4–6 mm;

anthers linear, 2–3 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

erect-ascending, 5–15 mm.

divaricate-ascending to suberect, 10–22 mm.

Fruits

linear, 1–1.8 cm × ca. 1.5 mm;

ovules ca. 16 per ovary;

style ca. 1 mm, (stout).

linear, 2.5–3.5(–5) cm × 1.9–2.1 mm;

ovules 12–16 per ovary;

style 2–3.5 mm.

Seeds

brown, oblong, ca. 1.5 mm.

brown, oblong, 2–2.5 × 1.2–1.5 mm.

2n

= 56, 60, 64, 80–100.

Cardamine nymanii

Cardamine constancei

Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug. Flowering May–Jun.
Habitat Wet meadows, marshes, margins of ponds, along streams, seacoasts, swamps Moist cliffs, wooded creek bottoms, shaded draws, hillsides, moist woods, mixed coniferous forests, granitic soils
Elevation 400-600 m (1300-2000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; MB; NL; NT; NU; QC; YT; Greenland; n Eurasia
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
ID
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Cardamine constancei is known from Clearwater, Idaho, Kootenai, Nez Perce, and Shoshone counties.

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

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 478. FNA vol. 7, p. 471.
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. bulbosa, C. californica, C. clematitis, C. concatenata, 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
Name authority Gandoger: Bull. Soc. Bot. France 72: 1043. (1925) Detling: Madroño 3: 176, plate 9. (1935)
Web links