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

narrow-leaf bitter-cress, sand bitter-cress, small-flower bitter-cress

Habit Perennials; (cespitose); glabrous. Annuals; (slender); glabrous or sparsely to densely pubescent throughout.
Rhizomes

absent.

absent.

Stems

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

(simple or few to several from base), erect, (somewhat flexuous), often branched distally, (0.5–)1–3(–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.

(often withered by anthesis), usually not rosulate, pinnately (5 or) 7–13(–17)-foliolate, (2–)4–10cm, leaflets sessile or petiolulate;

petiole 0.5–2.5(–4.5) cm;

lateral leaflets similar to terminal, sometimes smaller;

terminal leaflet (sessile or petiolule to 0.5 cm), blade linear to oblong, oblanceolate to obovate, or suborbicular, (0.1–)0.3–1 cm × 1–7 mm, base cuneate, margins entire or 3(–5)-toothed or -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.

5–10(–14), (5–)9–15(–17)-foliolate, petiolate, leaflets sessile;

petiole 0.3–1 cm, base not auriculate;

lateral leaflets similar to terminal, sometimes smaller;

terminal leaflet blade filiform, linear, or narrowly oblong, 0.3–1(–1.6) cm × 0.3–3 mm, margins usually entire, rarely 1–3-toothed.

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, 1–1.5(–2) × 0.3–0.5 mm, lateral pair not saccate basally, (margins membranous);

petals white, oblanceolate, (1.5–)1.8–2.5(–3) × 0.4–0.8(–1) mm;

filaments 1.4–2.5 mm;

anthers ovate, 0.2–0.4 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

erect-ascending, 5–15 mm.

divaricate or ascending, 4–10 mm.

Fruits

linear, 1–1.8 cm × ca. 1.5 mm;

ovules ca. 16 per ovary;

style ca. 1 mm, (stout).

linear, (torulose), (0.5–)1–2(–2.5) cm × 0.6–0.9 mm;

ovules 20–50 per ovary;

style 0.3–0.7(–1) mm.

Seeds

brown, oblong, ca. 1.5 mm.

pale brown, oblong-ovoid, 0.6–0.9 × 0.4–0.6 mm, (narrowly margined or not).

2n

= 56, 60, 64, 80–100.

= 16.

Cardamine nymanii

Cardamine parviflora

Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug. Flowering Mar–Jun.
Habitat Wet meadows, marshes, margins of ponds, along streams, seacoasts, swamps Roadsides, stream banks, rocky crests and outcrops, crevices of granitic bedrock, dry woods, glades, fallow fields, disturbed ground, limestone barrens, marsh and swamp margins, floodplains, waste ground, slopes, ledges, cliffs, meadows
Elevation 0-1500 m (0-4900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; MB; NL; NT; NU; QC; YT; Greenland; n Eurasia
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NT; ON; QC; SK; Eurasia
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Within Cardamine parviflora, in the broad sense, two species or varieties have been recognized: the Eurasian C. parviflora (or C. parviflora var. parviflora) versus the North American C. arenicola (or C. parviflora var. arenicola). Nuclear DNA data suggested a sister relationship of the North American and Eurasian entities, while cpDNA data showed them intermingled (J. Lihová et al. 2006). There are no apparent morphological differences between these entities, although detailed morphological studies are still lacking. We currently prefer to treat them as a single taxon.

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

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 478. FNA vol. 7, p. 480.
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. maxima, C. micranthera, C. microphylla, C. nuttallii, C. nymanii, C. occidentalis, C. oligosperma, C. pachystigma, C. pattersonii, C. penduliflora, C. pensylvanica, C. pratensis, C. purpurea, C. rotundifolia, C. rupicola, C. umbellata
Synonyms C. pratensis var. angustifolia C. arenicola, C. flexuosa var. gracilis, C. parviflora var. arenicola
Name authority Gandoger: Bull. Soc. Bot. France 72: 1043. (1925) Linnaeus: Syst. Nat. ed. 10, 2: 1131. (1759)
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