CARDAMINE BITTER-CRESS

Family: Mustard - Brassicaceae

Annual to perennial herb, from taproots, fibrous roots, or tuber-like rhizomes; hairs 0 or simple. Leaf: alternate, opposite, or whorled; entire to palmately, pinnately lobed, or compound; cauline leaves petioled or 0, not lobed at base [lobed]. Inflorescence: elongated, bracts generally 0. Flower: sepals erect (spreading), bases sac-like or not; petals white, pink, purple, or violet. Fruit: silique, linear, flat parallel to septum, dehiscent, unsegmented; valves generally coiling when dehiscent; placental margins flattened. Seed: (4)10–80, in 1 row, wingless.
± 200 species: temperate, worldwide. (Greek: for cress) Some North American species (e.g., Cardamine californica, Cardamine nuttallii, Cardamine pachystigma) highly variable, more study needed; species treated conservatively here. Cardamine flexuosa With. a waif in gardens, nurseries.

Unabridged note: Some North American species (e.g., Cardamine californica, Cardamine nuttallii, Cardamine pachystigma) highly variable and numerous minor variants were recognized as varieties. C ritical studies of these complexes reveal that only a fraction of the overall continuous variation was formally recognized. Without detailed molecular and cytological studies, a broader sp. concept is adopted herein. ^[Jepson2012]

Local Species;

1. Cardamine angulata - angled bitter-cress ^{[E-flora][PCBC]}
2. Cardamine bellidifolia - alpine bitter-cress ^{[E-flora][PCBC]}
   • var. bellidifolia
3. Cardamine breweri - Brewer's bitter-cress ^{[E-flora][PCBC]}
   • var. orbicularis ^[E-flora]
4. Cardamine hirsuta - hairy bitter-cress ^[E-flora]
5. Cardamine nuttallii - Slender toothwort ^{[E-flora][PCBC][TSFTK]}
6. Cardamine occidentalis - Western Bitter-cress ^{[E-flora][PCBC]}
7. Cardamine occulta - wood bitter-cress ^[E-flora]
8. Cardamine oligosperma - little western bitter-cress ^{[E-flora][PCBC]}
9. Cardamine parviflora - small-flowered bitter-cress ^[E-flora]
   • var. arenicola
10. Cardamine pensylvanica - Pennsylvanian bitter-cress ^{[E-flora][PCBC]}
11. Cardamine pratensis - Cuckoo-flower ^{[E-flora][PCBC]}
12. Cardamine umbellata - umbel bitter-cress ^{[E-flora][PCBC]}

Angled Bitter-Cress - Cardamine angulata

Identification

This is a Blue-Listed species in B.C. ^[E-flora]

• Origin Status:
• Native ^[E-flora]
  
• General:
• Perennial herb from slender rhizome, greater than 3 cm long, not tuberous; stems simple, 40-80 cm tall, glabrous or sparsely hairy.^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
  
• Leaves:
• With 3-5 leaflets, long-stalked, leaflets narrowly egg-shaped to egg-shaped, widely toothed to lobed, the terminal leaflet 1.5-5 cm long, 1.2-3 cm wide, somewhat larger than the lateral ones, hairy-fringed; upper stem leaves egg-shaped, with 3-5 large teeth.^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
  
• Flowers:
• Inflorescence a simple raceme; flower stalks 8-20 mm long, ascending, glabrous; petals white to pinkish, 8-14 mm long; sepals pale yellow-green, about 2 mm long.^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
  
• Fruits:
• Siliques, 1.5-3.5 cm long, 1.5-2 mm wide, erect, glabrous; styles 1.5-3 mm long.^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
  
• Habitat / Range
• Moist woods and river banks in the lowland zone; rare on the Queen Charlotte Islands and Vancouver Island; N to S AK and S to N CA. ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
  

Alpine bitter-cress - Cardamine bellidifolia

Family: Brassicaceae- Mustard Family ^[E-flora4]

SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC

• Cardamine bellidifolia var. bellidifolia ^[E-flora4]

Identification

• Origin Status: Native ^[E-flora4]
• General: More or less tufted, perennial herb from a taproot and often a branched stem-base with somewhat rhizome-like branches, leaf bases persistent; stems several, few-leaved, 2-10 cm long, glabrous.^{[IFBC-E-flora4]}
• Leaves: Basal leaves in rosettes, thick, fleshy, entire or shallowly 1-3 lobed, blades 5-30 mm long, diamond-shaped to elliptic to egg-shaped, narrowed to slender stalks 2-4 times as long; stem leaves 0-3, reduced.^{[IFBC-E-flora4]}
• Flowers: Inflorescence a few-flowered, umbel-like raceme; flower stalks 4-10 mm long, ascending; petals white, 3-5 mm long; sepals 1.5-2 mm long. ^{[IFBC-E-flora4]}
• Fruits: Siliques, erect, 1.5-3.5 cm long, 1-1.5 mm wide; styles stout, 1-3 mm long.^{[IFBC-E-flora4]}
• Habitat / Range Moist scree slopes, gravelly areas and mossy rocks in the upper montane to alpine zones; frequent in N BC, rare southward and on Vancouver Island; circumpolar, E to NF and S to ME, NH and N CA. ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
  

Brewer's bitter-cress - Cardamine breweri

Identification

Origin Status:

Native ^[E-flora]

• General: Perennial herb from a rhizome; stems erect to spreading or nearly prostrate, simple to freely branched, 20-60 cm tall, glabrous or sparsely hairy near base. ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
• Leaves: Basal leaves few, simple, blades 1-3 cm long, heart- to kidney-shaped or egg-shaped, shallowly wavy-margined and lobed; stem leaves compound with 2-4 (6) lanceolate to egg-shaped lateral lobes, the terminal lobe heart-shaped to egg-shaped to widely lanceolate, wavy-margined and toothed to shallowly lobed. ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
• Flowers: Inflorescence a few-flowered raceme; flower stalks 5-20 mm long, ascending; petals white, spoon- to egg-shaped, 3-6 mm long; sepals 1.5-2.5 mm long. ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
• Fruits: Siliques, erect, 2-3 cm long, 1-1.5 mm wide; styles 0.5-2 mm long. ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
• Habitat / Range: Wet to moist streambanks, shallow ponds and lakesides in the lowland and montane zones; infrequent in S BC; S to WY, NV and N CA. ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}

Two varieties occur in BC:

1. Terminal lobes of lower stem leaves heart-shaped at base..................var. orbicularis (Greene) Detl.

1. Terminal lobes of lower stem leaves cuneate or rounded at base....................... var. breweri ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}

Identification

• Origin Status: Exotic ^[E-flora]
• General: Annual herb from slender taproot; stems usually solitary, stiff, 5-30 cm tall, usually glabrous. ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
• Leaves: Basal leaves in compact rosettes, compound, stalked, hairy-fringed, pinnate with 2-3 or more pairs of egg-shaped to orbicular leaflets and a larger, somewhat kidney-shaped terminal leaflet; stem leaves few, almost unstalked, with smaller, narrower leaflets; all leaflets wavy-margined to shallowly few-lobed, sparsely stiff-hairy above and on the margins. ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
• Flowers: Inflorescence a simple raceme; flower stalks ascending, 5-10 mm long; petals white, narrow, 1.5-2 mm long; sepals half as long as petals, greenish-violet with narrow white margins; stamens 4. ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
• Fruits: Siliques, erect, 1.8-2.5 cm long, about 1 mm wide; styles 0.5-2 (6) mm long; seeds 22-36.^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
  
• Habitat / Range: Mesic to dry waste places, roadsides and open woods in the lowland zone; frequent in SW BC; introduced from Eurasia. ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}

Food Use

Leaves & Flowers: "Leaves and flowers eaten raw or cooked, mainly used as a garnish or flavouring in salads etc., but are also sometimes used as a potherb" ^[EMNMPV.7]

Western Bitter-Cress - Cardamine occidentalis

Family: Brassicaceae - Mustard Family

Identification

Synonyms

• Cardamine pratensis var. occidentalis S. Watson ex B.L. Rob. [E-flora3]

• Origin Status:
• Native ^[E-flora3]
  
• General:
• Perennial herb from a short, slender rhizome; stems 1-1.5 mm thick, enlarged and tuberous near base of leafy stems, 20-40 cm tall, simple to freely branched, erect to decumbent and rooting at nodes, glabrous to sparsely hairy. ^{[IFBC-E-flora3]}
• Leaves:
• Basal leaves few, slender-stalked, pinnate, lateral lobes (2) 4-6, egg-shaped to heart-shaped, short-stalked to unstalked, 3-8 mm long, generally entire, terminal lobe 1-2 cm long, shallowly wavy-margined; stem leaves several, upper ones unstalked to nearly unstalked, fewer lateral lobes, narrowly egg-shaped to linear, mostly 1-2 cm long, entire or slightly toothed, terminal leaflet egg- to wedge-shaped, 1.5-3 cm long. ^{[IFBC-E-flora3]}
• Flowers:
• Inflorescence an elongate raceme, without bracts; flower stalks ascending, 10-15 mm long; petals white, 3.5-5 mm long; sepals 1-2 (2.5) mm long.^{[IFBC-E-flora3]}
• Fruits:
• Siliques, erect, 2-3 cm long, 1-1.5 mm wide; styles about 1 mm long.^{[IFBC-E-flora3]}
• Habitat / Range
• Wet to moist streambanks and lakeshores in the lowland zone; infrequent in SW BC; N to AK and S to CA. ^{[IFBC-E-flora3]}

Identification

• General: Perennial herb from a short, slender, fleshy rhizome, less than 3 cm long and 1-3 (4) mm thick; stems erect, 20-30 cm tall, glabrous. ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
  
• Leaves: Basal leaves long-stalked, blades simple, orbicular to heart-shaped, shallowly round-toothed to lobed, sometimes deeply 3- or 5-lobed or compound with 3-5 (7) leaflets; stem leaves 1-3, grouped mostly above middle of stem, lobed, or compound with 3 or 5 lanceolate to egg-shaped-lanceolate, entire leaflets, 1-4 cm long.^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
  
• Flowers: Inflorescence a few-flowered racemes, without bracts; flowers stalks erect to ascending, 10-20 mm long; petals pink to reddish or purplish, 7-12 mm long; sepals 3-5 mm long.^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
  
• Fruits: Siliques, erect, 1.5-5 cm long, about 1.5 mm wide; styles slender, 3-6 mm long.^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
  
• Habitat / Range Moist woods and bottom lands in the lowland zone; common in SW BC, known from S Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and adjacent mainland of BC; S to N CA. ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
  

Ecological Indicator Information

A shade-tolerant, submontane to montane, Pacific North American forb; ecologically comparable to C. breweri. Occurs in maritime to hypermaritime cool mesothermal climates on very moist to wet, nitrogen-rich soils; its occurrence decreases with increasing elevation and continentality. Sporadic in closed-canopy forests on water-receiving sites; occasional in depressions on water-collecting sites with groundwater table at the ground surface. A nitrophytic species characteristic of Moder or Mull humus forms.

• Indicator Plants of Coastal British Columbia (Information applies to coastal locations only)^[E-flora]

Cuckooflower - Cardamine pratensis

SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC

• Cardamine pratensis ssp. pratensis

Status: Exotic ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}

Identification

"Cuckooflower or lady's-smock (Cardamine pratensis) is a perennial, hairless, erect mustard, growing from 8 to 20 inches tall. Its distinctive, fernlike, feather-compound leaves consist of three to seven paired leaflets, and one terminal leaflet. Basal leaflets are rounder, while upper leaflets are more narrow. The pink flowers are typical of mustards. They bloom in spring; then the plant disappears, so you have to collect early. Look for it in moist places, such as swamps, springs, wet meadows, and wet woods, throughout the northern half of North America." ^[Wildman]

• General: Perennial herb from a rhizome; stems 8-45 cm tall, glabrous.
• Leaves: Basal leaves with 9-17 orbicular to lanceolate leaflets, 0.2-0.9 cm long, glabrous; stem leaves with 9-15 linear to narrowly oblong leaflets, linear or lanceolate to linear-oblanceolate.
• Flowers: Inflorescence a simple raceme, without bracts; flower stalks spreading-ascending, 5-20 mm long, glabrous; petals pink, pink-purple, or white, 8-15 mm long; sepals 3-4.5 mm long.
• Fruits: Siliques, erect, 1.4-3 cm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, glabrous; styles 1-1.5 mm long.
• Habitat / Range: Wet to moist streamsides, meadows, floodplains and open woods in the montane zone; frequent in SW BC (lower Fraser Valley, where it may be introduced), infrequent in N BC; circumpolar, N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF, S to OH and MS; Eurasia.

Edible Uses

One of the best-tasting plants of the genus. ^[Schofield] Its peppery taste makes it a favorite of everyone who tries it. Use it raw or cooked. ^[Wildman]

• Leaves: The leaves can be available early in the year[k] and when used in small quantities make a very acceptable addition to salads[183, K]. ^[PFAF] "Lady’s smock, Cardamine pratensis L., was used in soup in the Faroes." [Svanberg,2012] "Basal leaves, raw in salads (SP)[spring]" ^{[Tardio,2006]}
• Leaves & Young Shoots: Raw or cooked[2, 5, 12, 52, 115]. Rich in vitamins and minerals[268], especially vitamin C[238], but with a bitter and pungent flavour[27]. The leaves and young shoots are harvested in the spring and taste rather like water cress[9]. ^[PFAF]
• Flowers & Flower Buds: Raw. A pungent cress-like flavour[183, K]. The white flowers are very attractive, they make a pleasant nibble and also add a delicious flavour to salads[K]. ^[PFAF]

Medicinal Uses

• Used to "stimulate appeite, ease indigestion," and used as a cough remedy. ^[CRNAH]
• Leaves & Flowering Plant: "Antirheumatic, antiscorbutic, antispasmodic, carminative, digestive, diuretic, stimulant[9, 146, 172, 238, 240]. They are used internally in the treatment of chronic skin complaints, asthma and hysteria[238]. The plant is harvested in spring and early summer and is best used when fresh[9, 238]." ^[PFAF]
• Appetizer: "Cuckoo flower is seldom used in herbalism, though an infusion of the leaves has been used to treat indigestion and promote appetite[268]." ^[PFAF]
• Flowers: "The flowers formerly possessed the reputation of being diuretic, and of being useful in chorea and asthma." ^{[Remington USD20]}

"The young leaves have proved a useful anti-scorbutic in their time. Hill. 1754 thought the juice of the fresh leaves “an excellent diuretic, and … good for the gravel”. They have been used for hysteria, and epilepsy, too (Hulme). Thornton rather ambitiously reported that “St Vitus’s dance … has yielded to these flowers…” In Russian folk medicine, it is sometimes combined with an infusion of haws for angina pectoris remedies (Kourennoff), but it is the haws that is the important element in this case. In the Highlands, it was reckoned good for reducing fevers (Beith)." ^{[DPL Watts]} "Claims by physicians that the flowering tops have powerful anti-spasmodic properties which are helpful in cases of hysteria, epilepsy and St Vitus’ dance appear in the learned medical literature from the time of John Ray onwards, but evidence that this was also (and maybe originally) a folk remedy seems to be limited to the Highlands150"^[MPFT]

"Its bitterish and slightly pungent leaves are supposed to be antiscorbutic. The seeds are said to contain myronic acid, and to yield on decomposition by hydrolysis an oil analogous to oil of mustard. Feist investigated C. amara L. and its volatile oil and found thio-urea. Kuntze states that two kinds of crystals were isolated, both being forms of thio-urea. (A. Pharm., 1907, 657.)"^{[Remington USD20]}

"Aerial Part Mustard oil Content, %: 0.0014–0.03 [1, 2] Composition: Butylmustard oil [2] Seed Oil, % on dry wt: 20–22 [1]"^[LLCEOPS]

Uses of Cardamine Sp.

• Species Mentioned: Cardamine sp; including C. pennsylvanica, C. pratensis, and C. umbellata. ^[Schofield]

Edible Uses

There are more than one hundred Cardamine species worldwide. Though some taste better than others, I know of no species that are harmful. ^[Schofield] "Hedrick (1919) listed eight species of Cardamine used from the Straits of Magellen to New Caledonia, so the comment by Fernald et al. (1958) that species, other than the two they listed, “doubtless have similar qualities,” is surely correct. Most who comment on the genus suggest that it has “just the taste of the English water-cress” (Hedrick 1919). The comparison in the name to “cress” records that long-standing impression" ^{[Daniel F. Austin]}

Mustard leaves can be juiced with milder greens like chickweed Stellaria media or sweet fruits like rose hips Rosa species for a vitamin-crammed drink. When pickling salmon, try adding mustard pods and glasswort Salicornia sp. to the brined fish. ^[Schofield]

Leaves of young bitter cress add zest to salads, quiches, sandwich fillings, soups, and casseroles. Spring to early summer.^[Schofield] "These plants are good raw in salads or better cooked in various ways, depending on the cook's imagination and ability. Some are better than others, C. pensylvanica being one of the best" ^{[Kirk WEP]}

Medicinal Uses

Mustards, in general, are often recommended to those plagued by indigestion or lack of appetite. ^[Schofield]

Cardamine seeds are often eaten in India after meals to stimulate digestion. They also are carminative, promoting release of excess gas. Late summer. ^[Schofield]

Cultivation

Besides nibbling from the wild, you can plant Cardamine and other wild mustards in your garden. Bitter cress does well in rich, moist loam in damp areas at the perimeter of bogs and garden ponds. ^[Schofield]

"Increased development of plant defense chemicals in leaves can be induced by the presence of leaf-pathogenic fungi. This increased concentration of polyphenols causes a significant reduction in the decomposition of plant litters (Whitham and Schweitzer, 2002). The higher content of these chemicals reduces the colonization of litter by saprotrophic and mycorrhizal fungi. Koide et al. (1998a,b) demonstrated a significant reduction in the growth of ectomycorrhizal fungi as a result of the effects of high concentrations of polyphenols. This effect could be considered analogous to an allelopathic effect if the reduction in mycorrhizal colonization of a host plant led to a reduction in the host plant’s fitness. Molofsky et al. (2000), however, contest that the survival and fitness of the annual plant Cardamine pensylvanica is related to leaf litter mass and persistence rather than litter quality. It is thus possible that the controls exerted by leaf litters are different for annual and perennial plants."^{[Dighton FEP]}

Use of Non-Local Species

"Goyang is an ethnic fermented wild plant food, generally prepared by the Sherpa women of high mountains in the Himalayan regions of India and Nepal (Tamang and Tamang 2007). The leaves of the wild edible plant (Cardamine macrophylla Willd), are collected, washed and cut into pieces, squeezed to drain off excess water, and tightly pressed into bamboo baskets lined with two to three layers of leaves from fg plants. The top of the baskets are then covered with fg plant leaves, and fermented naturally at room temperature for 25 to 30 days. Freshly fermented goyang is transferred into an airtight container which can be stored for 2 to 3 months. The shelf life of goyang can be prolonged by making the freshly fermented goyang into balls that are sun-dried for 2 to 3 days before being stored for several months. Goyang is eaten as a soup. Lb. plantarum, Lb. brevis, Lactococcus lactis, Enterococcus faecium, P. pentosaceus, and yeasts from Candida spp. have been isolated from goyang (Tamang and Tamang 2007). " ^{[Hui HPBFFBT]} "Goyang is boiled in a soup along with yak or beef meat and noodles to make a thick thukpa, a common staple food of the Sherpa."^{[Tamang FFBW]}

"Cardamine sp. [syn. Dentaria sp.] (Cruciferae)—pepper root, tooth root There are reports that this little-known plant (possibly C. concatenata) was used as a hallucinogen by the Iroquois (Moerman 1986, 100, 604*). Unfortunately, chemical and ethnobotanical information is lacking (Ott 1993, 405*). The “cuckoo flower” (Cardamine pratensis L.) was once used to treat epilepsy (Millspaugh 1974, 88*)." ^{[Ratsch EPP]}

References

• [E-flora]
  • [1]http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Cardamine%20occulta, Accessed June 20, 2015, Dec 12, 2017
  • [2]http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Cardamine%20umbellata, Accessed June 20, 2015
  • [3]http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Cardamine occidentalis&redblue=Both&lifeform=7 In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2014. E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. [Accessed: 11/30/2014 10:38:30 AM ]
  • [4]http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Cardamine%20bellidifolia&redblue=Both&lifeform=7 In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2014. E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. [Accessed: 11/30/2014 10:34:15 AM ]
  • [5]Cardamine parviflora, http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Cardamine%20parviflora&redblue=Both&lifeform=7, Accessed Dec 9, 2017
• [Jepson2012] Ihsan A. Al-Shehbaz, 2012. Cardamine, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_IJM.pl?tid=17120, accessed on Mar 14 2014