Flora of North America species comparison

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Cardamine rotundifolia

American bittercress, mountain watercress
Habit Perennials; glabrous throughout.
Rhizomes

slender, to 2 mm diam.
Stems

usually procumbent, sometimes erect, (not flexuous), unbranched or branched, (1–)1.5–3(–5) dm.
Basal leaves

(soon withered), not rosulate.
Rhizomal leaves

absent.
Cauline leaves

simple, petiolate;

petiole (0.3–)0.5–2.5(–4) cm, base not auriculate;

blade oblong, ovate, suborbicular, or cordate, (0.5–)1–4.5(–5.5) cm × (5–)10–40(–54) mm, base cordate, rounded, or truncate, margins entire, repand, or sinuate, (distally with shorter petiole, blade smaller).
Racemes

ebracteate.
Flowers

sepals oblong, 2–3 × 1–1.7 mm, lateral pair not saccate basally;

petals white, broadly oblanceolate, spreading, 5–7(–8) × 2–3 mm, (not clawed, apex rounded);

filaments: median pairs 3.5–4.5 mm, lateral pair 2.7–3.5 mm;

anthers oblong, 0.8–1.2 mm.
Fruiting pedicels

divaricate to ascending, (6–)10–15(–20) mm.
Fruits

linear, (torulose), 1–1.5(–2) cm × 0.8–1.1 mm;

ovules 40–80 per ovary;

style 1.5–2.5 mm.
Seeds

brown, oblong to ovoid, 0.9–1.1 × 0.5–0.6 mm.

Cardamine rotundifolia
Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Stream banks, swamps, low woodland, wet rocky areas, seepage areas
Elevation 150-400 m (500-1300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
DE; GA; KY; MD; NC; NJ; NY; OH; PA; TN; VA; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[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. purpurea, C. rupicola, C. umbellata
Synonyms Dentaria rotundifolia
Name authority Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 30. (1803)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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