Pennsylvania Bittercress, Quaker Bittercress
Cardamine pensylvanica
Synonyms: Cardamine flexuosa ssp. pensylvanica, Cardamine hirsuta var. pensylvanica, Cardamine pennsylvanica, Cardamine pensylvanica var. brittoniana
The photo above shows the upper stem leaf
and elongated inflorescence of Pennsylvania bittercress. Photographed in wet
meadows along Crofton Creek where the Crofton Ridge Trail crosses it.........June
19, 2005. Note the narrow leaflets on the pinnately compound leaves of
the mid and upperstem.
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These two photos show the pinnately compound stem leaves. The upper
leaflets have much narrower leaflets.
The photo directly above shows the entire plant of which the
other photos on this page were taken. Note the fairly thick whitish base of
the plant with fibrous roots diverging from its base. The plants seen at this
site were growing in moving water of small rivulets in wet meadows. Note also
the lack of a rosette of basal leaves, a key way to distinguish this species
from the similar western bittercress, Cardamine occidentalis or little
western bittercress, Cardamine oligosperma.
Paul Slichter