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

wavy bitter-cress, wood bitter-cress, woodland bitter-cress

Habit Perennials; (cespitose); glabrous. Annuals or biennials; sparsely to densely hirsute basally or throughout, or glabrous.
Rhizomes

absent.

absent.

Stems

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

erect, ascending, or decumbent, branched or unbranched, (0.6–)1–5 dm, (slightly flexuous).

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.

(often withered by anthesis), not rosulate, 5–15-foliolate, (2.7–)4–14(–19) cm, leaflets petiolulate;

petiole 0.7–5 cm, (ciliate or not);

lateral leaflet blade oblong, ovate, or elliptic, smaller than terminal, margins entire, repand, crenate, or 3 (or 5)-lobed;

terminal leaflet (petiolule 0.3–1.7 cm), blade reniform, broadly ovate, or suborbicular, 0.5–2.5 cm × 4–30 mm, margins repand, crenate, or 3 or 5-lobed.

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.

3–15, 5–15-foliolate [leaves (2–)3.5–5.5(–7) cm, including petiole], petiolate, leaflets petiolulate;

petiole base not auriculate;

lateral leaflets similar to basal, (0.4–2.5 mm wide).

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, 1.5–2.5 × 0.7–1 mm, lateral pair not saccate basally;

petals white, spatulate, 2.5–4(–5) × 1–1.7 mm; (stamens rarely 4, lateral pair absent);

filaments 2–3 mm;

anthers ovate, 0.3–0.5 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

erect-ascending, 5–15 mm.

divaricate or ascending, (5–)6–14(–17) mm.

Fruits

linear, 1–1.8 cm × ca. 1.5 mm;

ovules ca. 16 per ovary;

style ca. 1 mm, (stout).

linear, (torulose), (0.8–)1.2–2.8 cm × 1–1.5 mm;

ovules 18–40 per ovary;

style 0.3–1(–1.5) mm.

Seeds

brown, oblong, ca. 1.5 mm.

brown, oblong or subquadrate, 0.9–1.5 × 0.6–1 mm, (narrowly margined or not).

2n

= 56, 60, 64, 80–100.

= 32.

Cardamine nymanii

Cardamine flexuosa

Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug. Flowering Apr–Jul.
Habitat Wet meadows, marshes, margins of ponds, along streams, seacoasts, swamps Disturbed areas, fields, nurseries, plantations, gardens, flower beds, lawns, roadsides
Elevation 0-1100 m (0-3600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; MB; NL; NT; NU; QC; YT; Greenland; n Eurasia
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; CA; FL; GA; IL; IN; LA; MD; MI; NC; NY; OH; OR; RI; TX; VA; WA; BC; NF; ON; Europe; e Asia [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, Central America, South America, Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

According to J. Lihová et al. (2006), the populations referred to Cardamine flexuosa in North America comprise two taxa of different polyploid origins and evolutionary histories: tetraploid C. flexuosa (2n = 32), native to Europe, and the octoploid taxon informally called “Asian C. flexuosa” (2n = 64), native to eastern Asia. For the latter, the name C. flexuosa subsp. debilis can be used. Nevertheless, these two taxa should be recognized at species level and the correct name for the Asian species should be sought. Based on available data, both taxa occupy the same habitats in North America, but the Asian taxon is much more widespread. The occurrence of European C. flexuosa was, until now, confirmed only for Washington, where both taxa have been recorded. More detailed studies of the North American distributions of both these weeds are needed.

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

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 478. FNA vol. 7, p. 474.
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. dissecta, C. douglassii, C. flagellifera, 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. flexuosa subsp. debilis, C. flexuosa var. debilis, C. hirsuta subsp. flexuosa, C. scutata subsp. flexuosa
Name authority Gandoger: Bull. Soc. Bot. France 72: 1043. (1925) Withering: Arr. Brit. Pl. ed. 3, 3: 578. (1796)
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