Wood Bitter Cress, Wavy Bitter Cr.

Foodplant / feeds on
larva of Ceutorhynchus cochleariae feeds on Cardamine flexuosa

Foodplant / parasite
Erysiphe cruciferarum parasitises live Cardamine flexuosa

In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Foodplant / parasite
colony of sporangium of Peronospora parasitica parasitises live Cardamine flexuosa
Remarks: season: 1-4

Foodplant / parasite
amphigenous colony of Ramularia hyphomycetous anamorph of Ramularia cardamines parasitises live leaf of Cardamine flexuosa

C. inayatic Schulz is a from of this species with somewhat conical terminal lobes of leaf.

The above first records from Myanmar and Thailand are based on Keenan et al. 3918 (E) and Maxwell 90-149 (MO), respectively.

Cardamine flexuosa is one of the most variable species of Brassicaceae, especially in stem direction, plant height, density of indumentum, flower size, degree of zigzagging of the raceme rachis, orientation of fruiting pedicels and, most dramatically, number, shape, size, base (sessile vs. petiolulate), and margin of lateral leaf lobes. Although Schulz (Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 32: 464-473. 1903) recognized 20 infraspecific taxa in C. flexuosa, an examination of the types of most of these reveals that he confused the limits of least four different species, including C. parviflora, C. scutata, and the North American C. pensylvanica Muhlenberg ex Willdenow. Only a small fraction of the vast number of variants of C. flexuosa have been accorded infraspecific ranks, but all of those occur sporadically throughout the range of the species, and the present authors prefer to avoid the recognition of infraspecific taxa that are based on unreliable characters, especially the morphology of lateral leaf lobes.

Although Cardamine occulata was based on Chinese material, it was not mentioned in FRPS, and it represents only a minor variant of C. flexuosa.

Cardamine flexuosa is used medicinally.

Annual or biennial, very similar to the following species, C. hirsuta L., but lax, usually with several branches from below, roots fibrous on a short rootstock, basal leaves hardly or loosely rosulate, and stamens always 6.

Herbs annual or biennial, (6-)10-50 cm tall, sparsely to densely hirsute basally or throughout, or glabrous. Stems erect, ascending, or decumbent, 1 to several from base, simple or branched, flexuous or straight. Basal leaves not rosulate, often withered by anthesis, petiolate; leaf blade (2-)4-10(-14) cm, lyrate; terminal lobe reniform, broadly ovate, or suborbicular, repand or 3-5-lobed; lateral lobes, (1 or)2-6(or 7) on each side of midvein, petiolulate or subsessile, oblong, ovate, or elliptic, smaller than terminal lobe, entire, repand, crenate, or 3(-5)-lobed. Cauline leaves 3-15, including petiole (2-)3.5-5.5(-7) cm; petiole base not auriculate; terminal lobe 3-5-lobed; lateral lobes 2-7 on each side of midvein, suborbicular, ovate, oblong, oblanceolate, or linear, similar to or slightly smaller than terminal lobe, sessile or shortly petiolulate, entire, repand, dentate, or 3(-5)-lobed. Fruiting pedicels divaricate or ascending, (5-)6-14(-17) mm, slender. Sepals oblong, 1.5-2.5 × 0.7-1 mm. Petals white, spatulate, 2.5-4(-5) × 1-1.7 mm. Stamens 6, rarely 4 and lateral pair absent; filaments 2-3 mm; anthers ovate, 0.3-0.5 mm. Ovules 18-40 per ovary. Fruit linear, (0.8-)1.2-2.8 cm × 1-1.5 mm; valves glabrous, torulose; style 0.3-1(-1.5) mm. Seeds brown, oblong or subquadrate, 0.9-1.5 × 0.6-1 mm, narrowly margined or not. Fl. Feb-May, fr. Apr-Jul. 2n = 32.

Distribution: Europe and Asia, introduced in N. America.

Throughout China [Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kashmir, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sikkim, Thailand, Vietnam; native to Europe; naturalized in Australia and North and South America].

Fl. Per.: March-June.

Fields, roadsides, grasslands, disturbed sites, streamsides, clearings, running water, wet forests, dry sites, greenhouses; near sea level to 3600 m.

Barbarea arisanensis (Hayata) S. S. Ying; Cardamine arisanensis Hayata; C. debilis D. Don (1825), not Banks ex de Candolle (1821); C. flexuosa subsp. debilis O. E. Schulz; C. flexuosa subsp. debilis var. occulata (Hornemann) O. E. Schulz; C. flexuosa var. debilis (O. E. Schulz) T. Y. Cheo & R. C. Fang; C. flexuosa var. ovatifolia T. Y. Cheo & R. C. Fang; C. hirsuta Linnaeus var. flaccida Franchet; C. hirsuta subsp. flexuosa (Withering) J. D. Hooker; C. hirsuta var. omeiensis T. Y. Cheo & R. C. Fang; C. hirsuta var. sylvatica (Link) Syme; C. occulata Hornemann; C. scutata Thunberg subsp. flexuosa (Withering) H. Hara; C. sylvatica Link; C. zollingeri Turczaninow; Nasturtium obliquum Zollinger.

flexuosa: zigzag, much bent (probably referring to the stem)

Annual, biennial or perennial herb. Stems up to 20 cm, flexuous, hairy especially below. Leaves imparipinnate; basal few, in a lax rosette, with 3-6 pairs of lateral leaflets and a larger terminal leaflet; stem leaves 4-10, ± sessile with 5 or more pairs of leaflets, all leaflets gland-toothed or ± lobed. Petals 2.5-3 mm, white. Sepals white-margined. Fruit 12-25 × 1 mm, ± erect on upwardly curved pedicels 6-13 mm. Seeds very narrowly winged.

Local

Native of Europe and Asia, widely introduced elsewhere

inflorescence Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cardamine flexuosa.

Cardamine flexuosa, commonly known as wavy bittercress or wood bitter-cress, is an herbaceous annual, biennial, or short-lived perennial plant in the cabbage family (Brassicaceae).