Cardamine hirsuta L.
Hairy bittercress, pepperweed, shotweed, snapweed
Hairy bittercress is an introduced species, now generally considered a weed. They exploded into being, seemingly all at once, taking over a good portion of my lawn. Barbara Williams of Nampa, ID reports seeing this in Idaho, outside of its previously recorded range. Identification: Plants are 8-12" (20-30 cm) high. Leaves at the base are rounded, in opposing pairs, very close to the ground. Tall stems support a few narrower leaves, and tiny clusters of white flowers. Each flower is less than ⅛" (3.2 mm) around; clusters are about ¼" (8.3 mm) around. Each stem also supports multiple upward-pointing seed pods called siliques, each about ¾-1¼" (1.9-3.2 cm) long and less than ¹/₃₂" (1 mm) in diameter. Pods are a reddish purple color, containing multiple seeds. The pods are “explosively dehiscent,” that is, the dry pods pop apart when touched, launching seeds up to 3' (1 m). Clockwise from top center: opened seed pod, flower cluster, underside and top of basal leaves, upper leaves, seed pods (“siliques”) and flowers. Edibility: Flowers and leaves are edible, with a hot flavor (as with other cresses); they are usually used as a garnish on salads. Online References:
Cardamine hirsuta on Missouriplants.com Cardamine hirsuta at Illinois Wildflowers Cardamine hirsuta on spes.vt.edu Cardamine hirsuta on Plants for a Future, a resource and information centre for edible and otherwise useful plants Cardamine hirsuta on Wikipedia Cardamine hirsuta on Turner Photographics' Wildflowers site Cardamine hirsuta on SEINet—the Southwest Environmental Information Network Cardamine hirsuta on eFloras 4/12/2012 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Massachusetts Cardamine hirsuta description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 25 May 2020. © FloraFinder.org. All rights reserved. |
3/14/2012 · Susan and Raimond’s, Phoenix, Maryland 3/13/2012 · New Jersey 4/13/2012 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Massachusetts 3/13/2012 · New Jersey 4/13/2012 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Massachusetts 5/9/2010 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Massachusetts 4/13/2012 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Massachusetts Range:
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