Species: Cardamine parviflora var. arenicola (Britt.) O.E. Schulz

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Cardamine parviflora var. arenicola (Britt.) O.E. Schulz

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TAXONOMY

Family:

Brassicaceae

Genus:

Cardamine

Species Synonyms:

Cardamine arenicola Britt.

Common Names:

sand bittercress
small-flower bitter cress

DISTRIBUTION

Canada:

Mackenzie District (Northwest Territories) - northeastern British Columbia, east-central Saskatchewan, southern Manitoba - Newfoundland to Nova Scotia

Saskatchewan:

east-central Saskatchewan; Churchill River

Ecoregion:

Boreal Transition, Churchill River Upland

HABITAT

Saskatchewan:

rocky or sandy shores

RARITY STATUS

Provincial Status According
to Harms (2003):

Endangered

Nature Conservancy Status:

G5 S1

Saskatchewan Species at
Risk Status:

None

COSEWIC Status:

None

Cardamine parviflora var. arenicola is endangered in Saskatchewan because it is rare and most local populations are small.

SPECIES DESCRIPTION

Height:

10 – 25 cm

Roots:

taproot slender

Stems:

annual or biennial, erect, simple to branched, glabrous

Leaves:

basal and cauline, petiolate, pinnately compound, leaflets 7 – 11, leaves 1 – 4 cm long, to 1 cm wide; basal leaves with ovate to rotund leaflets; cauline leaves alternate, leaflets to 5 mm long, 1 – 2 mm wide, linear to narrowly oblanceolate, not decurrent on rachis, terminal leaflet often slightly larger than lateral leaflets

Inflorescence:

racemose, flowers crowded; pedicels slender, 5 – 8 mm long

Flowers:

minute; calyx distinct, purple tipped; corolla tetramerous, to 3.5 mm long, spatulate, white

Fruits:

silique ascending; 2 – 3 cm long, to 1 mm wide, beakless or with style up to 0.7 mm long; seeds 0.7 - 0.9 mm; replum persistent after seed dispersal

CARDAMINE KEY IN SASKATCHEWAN

1 Flowers 15 – 25 mm broad; corolla generally pink, rarely white	C. pratensis
1 Flowers 3 – 10 mm broad; corolla white	2

2 Stems pubescent at base; cauline leaves 4 – 8 cm long; leaflets broad, decurrent on rachis, terminal leaflets obovate	C. pensylvanica
2 Stems glabrous throughout; cauline leaves 2 – 4 cm long; leaflets narrow, not decurrent on rachis, terminal leaflet linear-oblanceolate	C. parviflora var. arenicola