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

Richardson's bittercress

Habit Perennials; (cespitose); glabrous. Perennials; glabrous throughout.
Rhizomes

absent.

cylindrical, slender, 0.5–1.5 mm diam.

Stems

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

erect, unbranched, (0.6–)1–2(–3) dm.

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

pinnately 5 or 7-foliolate, (2–)4–10 cm, (not fleshy), leaflets sessile;

petiole (1.5–)3–7(–9) cm;

lateral leaflets similar to terminal, blade sometimes smaller;

terminal leaflet blade linear to narrowly oblong or narrowly lanceolate, (0.5–)1–2.5(–3.3) cm × 0.5–4(–8) mm, base cuneate to attenuate, margins entire.

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.

(1 or) 2 or 3, 5 or 7-foliolate, petiolate, leaflets sessile;

petiole (0.2–)0.5–1.2(–1.5) cm, base not auriculate;

lateral leaflets similar to terminal, blade smaller;

terminal leaflet blade narrowly lanceolate to linear, 1–3.2(–4) cm × 0.8–2.5(–3.5) mm, base cuneate to attenuate, margins entire (apex acute to acuminate).

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 ovate, 2.5–3.5 × 1.5–2.5 mm, lateral pair not saccate basally;

petals white, obovate, 5–9 × 2.5–5 mm (clawed, apex rounded);

filaments: median pairs 3–4.5 mm, lateral pair 1.5–2.5 mm;

anthers oblong, 1–1.5 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

erect-ascending, 5–15 mm.

suberect to divaricate-ascending, (7–)10–25 mm.

Fruits

linear, 1–1.8 cm × ca. 1.5 mm;

ovules ca. 16 per ovary;

style ca. 1 mm, (stout).

linear, (1.5–)2–4 cm × 1.5–2 mm;

ovules 6–12 per ovary;

style (1–)1.5–2.5(–4) mm.

Seeds

brown, oblong, ca. 1.5 mm.

brown, oblong, 1.8–2.2 × 0.9–1.1 mm.

2n

= 56, 60, 64, 80–100.

= 28, 42.

Cardamine nymanii

Cardamine digitata

Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug. Flowering Jun–Aug.
Habitat Wet meadows, marshes, margins of ponds, along streams, seacoasts, swamps Damp flats, stream banks, tundra, meadows, bluffs, hummocks, sandy beaches, slopes, mossy mats, sedge swales
Elevation 0-1400 m (0-4600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; MB; NL; NT; NU; QC; YT; Greenland; n Eurasia
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; NT; YT; ne Asia (Russian Far East, Siberia)
[BONAP county map]
Source FNA vol. 7, p. 478. FNA vol. 7, p. 472.
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. constancei, C. cordifolia, 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 C. digitata var. oxyphylla, C. hyperborea, C. hyperborea var. oxyphylla, C. richardsonii
Name authority Gandoger: Bull. Soc. Bot. France 72: 1043. (1925) Richardson: in J. Franklin, Narr. Journey Polar Sea, 743. (1823)
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