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Brewer's
Bittercress
Cardamine breweri S. Wats.
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Family: Brassicaceae,
Mustard
Genus: Cardamine
Description
Plant height: 20-60 cm tall.
Growth habit:
perennial, erect to spreading or nearly
trailing, from slender rhizomes.
Stems:
simple to rather freely branched, hairless or
sparsely hairy near the base.
 Leaves: basal leaves usually mostly simple, the blade
1-3 cm long, heart- to kidney-shaped or ovate, shallowly
wavy-lobed. Stem leaves alternate, usually compound with
2-4 lance-shaped to ovate lateral lobes, the terminal one
rounded, much larger, shallowly lobed. All leaves hairless.
 Flowers: white, with 4 spoon-shaped petals 3-7 mm
long and sepals 1.5-2.5 mm long. Flower stalks
ascending, 5-20 mm. long.
Flowering time: May-August.
 Fruits: pods linear, cylindrical, erect, 2-3 cm long and
1-1.5 mm broad, with valves indistinctly 1-nerved at the
base. Style 0.5-2 mm long.
Distribution
Widespread in wet places, along strems, foothills to
subalpine, in w. c. and s. parts of MT. Also in the rest of
w. U.S. and n. to AK.
Edible plant
, see below. |
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(click on image for full size)
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(click on images for full size)
Bittercresses add a refreshening, peppery flavor to foods. They can be eaten raw in salads, but they are usually better cooked in soups, stews and other dishes. |
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