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

large toothwort

Habit Perennials; (cespitose); glabrous. Perennials; glabrous (except leaflet margins and, sometimes, rachis).
Rhizomes

absent.

cylindrical, 3–6 mm diam., (distinctly constricted at intervals, non-uniform diam., fleshy, slightly fragile, with dentate leaf scars).

Stems

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

erect, unbranched, 0.9–3(–4) 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

3-foliolate, 7–20 cm, leaflets petiolulate or subsessile;

petiole 4–15 cm;

lateral leaflets subsessile or petiolulate, blade often similar to terminal, base often oblique;

terminal leaflet (petiolule 0.2–1(–1.7) cm), blade broadly ovate to oblong, 2–7.5 cm × 12–37 mm, base cuneate to obtuse, margins coarsely dentate to sharply incised, or deeply cleft into 2 or 3 lobes (lobes dentate or incised, margins puberulent).

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, 3-foliolate, (rarely subopposite), petiolate, leaflets petiolulate or subsessile;

petiole (0.5–)1–4(–6.5) cm, base not auriculate;

lateral and terminal leaflets similar to rhizomal, distalmost sometimes much smaller.

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 (erect to ascending), oblong, 5–7 × 2–3 mm, lateral pair slightly saccate basally;

petals white or pink, oblanceolate, 10–17 × 3–6 mm, (not clawed, apex rounded);

filaments: median pairs 4–8 mm, lateral pair 3–6.5 mm;

anthers linear, 1.7–2.7 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

erect-ascending, 5–15 mm.

(flowering ones) horizontal to divaricate or deflexed, 7–20 mm.

Fruits

linear, 1–1.8 cm × ca. 1.5 mm;

ovules ca. 16 per ovary;

style ca. 1 mm, (stout).

(undeveloped), linear-lanceolate, to 3 cm × 2 mm;

ovules 10–14 per ovary;

style 3.5–7 mm.

Seeds

brown, oblong, ca. 1.5 mm.

not known.

2n

= 56, 60, 64, 80–100.

= 120, 124, 132, 138, 156, 161, ca. 208.

Cardamine nymanii

Cardamine maxima

Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug. Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Wet meadows, marshes, margins of ponds, along streams, seacoasts, swamps Rich woods, shady ravines, ledges, moist alluvial bottoms, steep forested slopes, stream banks
Distribution
from FNA
AK; MB; NL; NT; NU; QC; YT; Greenland; n Eurasia
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from FNA
CT; MA; ME; MI; NJ; NY; OH; PA; VT; NB; ON; QC
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Discussion

Cardamine maxima has not been found with mature fruits and seeds and it has long been suspected to be a hybrid between C. concatenata and C. diphylla. Molecular studies (P. W. Sweeney and R. A. Price 2000) indicate that C. maxima is distinct from both those species. Although we hesitate to maintain it as a species, its wide distribution and morphological distinctness warrant its recognition.

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

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 478. FNA vol. 7, p. 477.
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. flexuosa, C. hirsuta, C. holmgrenii, C. impatiens, C. longii, C. macrocarpa, 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 maxima, C. anomala, Dentaria anomala
Name authority Gandoger: Bull. Soc. Bot. France 72: 1043. (1925) (Nuttall) Alph. Wood: Amer. Bot. Fl., 38. (1870)
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