Description
Cardamine – Bittercress –
There are about 150 species of mat forming annuals and perennials, in this genus. They occur from cool, shady, moist habitats in the Northern Hemisphere. Some of the annuals are invasive garden weeds. The rootstock is fibrous or has scaly rhizomes. Cardamines have simple, dissected to compound leaves and unbranched stems carrying panicles or racemes (some short and congested) of 4 petalled, white yellow, pink, lilac, or reddish violet flowers, followed by slender pods that split apart suddenly, flinging the minute seeds a short distance. Grow in a border, a rock garden, a woodland, or bog garden.
Grow in humus rich moist soil in full or partial shade.
Prone to white rust, downy mildew, powdery mildew, and flea beetles.
C. pratensis – Cuckoo Flower – Lady’s Smock – This variable, low clump forming perennial from temperate Asia and North America grows 12-18″ tall and 12″ wide. It produces of rosettes of pinnate, gray-green to glossy, dark green leaves, to 6″ long, composed of 2-8 pairs of ovate to rounded or kidney shaped leaflets, often producing plantlets. In spring it bears panicles of pale pink or white flowers, ½-1 1/4″ across.
Zones 4-8
