Cardamine (Car-dá-mi-ne, Bittercress or Bitter-cress), is a large genus in the family Brassicaceae. It contains more than 150 species of annuals and perennials. The genus grows worldwide in diverse habitats, except in the Antarctic. Genus Dentaria is a synonym for Cardamine.
The leaves can have different forms, going from minute to medium-sized. They can be pinnate or bipinnate. They are basal and cauline (growing on the upper part of the stem), with narrow tips. They are rosulate (forming a rosette). The blade margins can be entire, serrate or dentate. The stem internodes lack firmness.
The radially symmetrical flowers grow in a racemose many-flowered inflorescence or in corymbs. The white, pink or purple flowers are minute to medium-sized. The petals are longer than the sepals. The fertile flowers are hermaphroditic.
The fruits are long, thin pods with many (20-100) seeds.
Some plants were reputed to have medicinal qualities (treatment of heart or stomach ailments).
The name Cardamine is derived from the Greek word kardamon, referring to a Persian or Indian herb with pungent leaves.
Species
* Cardamine africana
* Cardamine amara - Large Bittercress
* Cardamine amporitana
* Cardamine angulata - Seaside Bittercress
* Cardamine angustata - Slender Toothwort
* Cardamine bellidifolia - Alpine Bittercress, Alpine Cress
* Cardamine bilobata
* Cardamine breweri - Brewer's Bittercress
* Cardamine bulbifera - Coralroot
* Cardamine bulbosa - Bulbous Bittercress, Spring Cress
* Cardamine californica - Milkmaids
* Cardamine changbaiana
* Cardamine chenopodiifolia
* Cardamine clematitis - Small Mountain Bittercress
* Cardamine concatenata - Cutleaf Toothwort, Cut-leaved Toothwort
* Cardamine constancei - Constance's Bittercress
* Cardamine cordifolia - Heartleaf Bittercress, Heartleaved Bittercress, Large Mountain Bittercress
* Cardamine corymbosa
* Cardamine debilis - Roadside Bittercress
* Cardamine dentata
* Cardamine digitata - Richardson's Bittercress
* Cardamine diphylla - Crinkleroot, Twin-leaved Toothwort
* Cardamine dissecta - Forkleaf Toothwort
* Cardamine douglassii - Limestone Bittercress
* Cardamine enneaphyllos - Drooping Bittercress
* Cardamine fargesiana
* Cardamine flagellifera - Blue Ridge Bittercress
* Cardamine flexuosa - Woodland Bittercress, Wavy Bittercress
* Cardamine gambelii
* Cardamine glacialis
* Cardamine gunnii
* Cardamine gunnii-lilacina
* Cardamine heptaphylla
* Cardamine hirsuta - Hairy Bittercress
* Cardamine impatiens - Narrowleaf Bittercress, Narrow-leaved Bittercress
* Cardamine jamesonii
* Cardamine keysseri
* Cardamine laciniata
* Cardamine lihengiana
* Cardamine lilacina
* Cardamine longii - Long's Bittercress
* Cardamine lyrata
* Cardamine macrocarpa - Largeseed Bittercress
* Cardamine maritima
* Cardamine matthiola
* Cardamine maxima - Large Toothwort
* Cardamine micranthera - Small-anthered Bittercress, Streambank Bittercress
* Cardamine microphylla - Small-leaf Bittercress
* Cardamine montelucii
* Cardamine nuttallii - Nuttall's Toothwort
* Cardamine nymanii - Lady Smock
* Cardamine obliqua
* Cardamine occidentalis - Big Western Bittercress
* Cardamine oligosperma - Idaho Bittercress, Little Western Bittercress, Annual Bittercress
* Cardamine pachystigma - Serpentine Bittercress
* Cardamine palustris
* Cardamine parviflora - Sand Bittercress, Small-flowered Bittercress
* Cardamine pattersonii - Saddle Mountain Bittercress
* Cardamine paucijuga
* Cardamine penduliflora - Willamette Valley Bittercress
* Cardamine pensylvanica - Pennsylvania Bittercress, Quaker Bittercress
* Cardamine pentaphyllos
* Cardamine pratensis - Cuckoo Flower, Ladies Smock, Lady's Smock, Meadow Cress
* Cardamine pulcherrima
* Cardamine purpurascens
* Cardamine purpurea - Purple Bittercress
* Cardamine regeliana - Japanese Bittercress
* Cardamine residifolia
* Cardamine raphanifolia
* Cardamine rotundifolia - American Bittercress, American watercress, Mountain Watercress
* Cardamine rupicola - Cliff Bittercress
* Cardamine seidlitziana
* Cardamine tenera
* Cardamine trichocarpa
* Cardamine trifoliata
* Cardamine uliginosa
Hybrids
* Cardamine × anomala - Anomalous Bittercress
* Cardamine × incisa - Incised Bittercress
