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

forkleaf toothwort

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

absent.

(tuberiform, fragile), moniliform, segments oblong, 3–5 mm diam., (fleshy).

Stems

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

erect, unbranched, 1–3.5 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

palmately compound (biternate), 7–20 cm, leaflets petiolulate;

petiole 4–13 cm;

lateral leaflets similar to terminal, blade sometimes smaller;

terminal leaflet (petiolule 1–3(–4) cm), blade ternately or pinnately lobed, (distal segment) linear, 0.7–3.5 cm × 0.6–3 mm, base attenuate to cuneate, margins entire (apiculate).

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 or) 3, palmately compound (biternate, similar to rhizomal leaves, alternate to subopposite), petiolate, leaflets petiolulate;

petiole (0.5–)1–4(–5.5) cm, base not auriculate;

lateral leaflets similar to terminal;

terminal leaflet (petiolule (0.3–)0.7–1.5(–2.5) cm), blade (ternate, distal segment) linear, (0.4–)1.5–5(–6.5) cm × 0.7–4(–6) mm, base cuneate to attenuate, margins entire.

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, 4–6 × 1.5–2 mm, lateral pair not saccate basally;

petals white to pale pink, oblanceolate, 9–15 × 2–4 mm, (not clawed, apex rounded);

filaments: median pairs 6–7.5 mm, lateral pair 3–5 mm;

anthers linear, 1.5–2.5 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

erect-ascending, 5–15 mm.

ascending to divaricate, 10–25(–35) mm.

Fruits

linear, 1–1.8 cm × ca. 1.5 mm;

ovules ca. 16 per ovary;

style ca. 1 mm, (stout).

linear-lanceolate, 2–3.5 cm × 1.5–2 mm;

ovules 10–14 per ovary;

style 4–7(–10) mm.

Seeds

brown, oblong, ca. 1.5 mm.

brown, oblong, 1.5–2.5 × 1–1.5 mm.

2n

= 56, 60, 64, 80–100.

= 64, 112.

Cardamine nymanii

Cardamine dissecta

Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug. Flowering Mar–May.
Habitat Wet meadows, marshes, margins of ponds, along streams, seacoasts, swamps Oak-hickory woods, moist loamy areas, floodplain woods, bluffs, rocky calcareous woods, limestone slopes, along streams
Elevation 0-300 m (0-1000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; MB; NL; NT; NU; QC; YT; Greenland; n Eurasia
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; GA; IN; KY; NC; OH; TN
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Source FNA vol. 7, p. 478. FNA vol. 7, p. 473.
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. digitata, C. diphylla, 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 Dentaria dissecta, C. angustata var. multifida, C. laciniata subsp. multifida, Dentaria furcata, Dentaria heterophylla var. multifida, Dentaria laciniata var. multifida, Dentaria multifida
Name authority Gandoger: Bull. Soc. Bot. France 72: 1043. (1925) (Leavenworth) Al-Shehbaz: J. Arnold Arbor. 69: 82. (1988)
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