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purple bittercress

Habit Perennials; (often cespitose); hirsute.
Rhizomes

vertical, 1–3 mm diam., (not fleshy).

Stems

(simple or few to several from base), usually erect, unbranched, (0.3–)0.5–1.2(–1.5) dm.

Basal leaves

sometimes rosulate, usually 3 or 5-foliolate, rarely simple, (1.5–)2.5–7 cm, leaflets petiolulate or sessile;

petiole (1.2–)2–5 cm;

lateral lobes or leaflets sessile, blade similar to terminal, distinctly smaller;

terminal lobe or leaflet petiolulate (0.05–0.6 cm), blade reniform or suborbicular to broadly ovate, 0.3–1 cm × 4–15 mm, base subcordate to rounded, margins entire, repand, or obscurely 2-toothed.

Cauline leaves

1–3, usually compound, rarely simple, petiolate, leaflets petiolulate or sessile;

petiole (0.2–)0.5–2 cm, base not auriculate;

similar to basal, smaller.

Racemes

ebracteate.

Flowers

sepals oblong, 2–3(–4) × 1.4–1.7 mm, lateral pair not saccate basally;

petals usually purple to pink, rarely white, obovate, 5–7(–9) × 3–4(–5) mm, (clawed, apex rounded);

filaments: median pairs 2.5–3.5 mm, lateral pair 1.5–3.5 mm;

anthers oblong, 0.6–0.9 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

suberect, ascending, or divaricate, 5–12 mm, pubescent.

Fruits

linear, 1.5–2.5 cm × 1.5–1.8 mm;

ovules 10–14 per ovary;

style 1–2.5 mm.

Seeds

brown, oblong to broadly ovoid, 1.7–2.1 × 1.4–1.7 mm.

2n

= 96.

Cardamine purpurea

Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug.
Habitat Moist tundra, damp woods and ravines, alpine turf, river flats, peaty subarctic meadows, streamsides, moist slopes
Elevation 600-1800 m (2000-5900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; YT; e Asia (Russian Far East)
[BONAP county map]
Source FNA vol. 7, p. 483.
Parent taxa 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. nymanii, C. occidentalis, C. oligosperma, C. pachystigma, C. parviflora, C. pattersonii, C. penduliflora, C. pensylvanica, C. pratensis, C. rotundifolia, C. rupicola, C. umbellata
Synonyms C. purpurea var. albiflora, C. purpurea var. albiflos, C. purpurea var. lactiflora
Name authority Chamisso & Schlechtendal: Linnaea 1: 20. (1826)
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