''Cardamine angustata'' (known by the common name slender toothwort) is a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

forb A forb or phorb is an herbaceous flowering plant that is not a graminoid (grass, sedge, or rush). The term is used in biology and in vegetation ecology, especially in relation to grasslands and understory. Typically these are dicots without woo ...

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and enterta ...

to the eastern United States, USDA, NRCS. 2014. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA. that produces white to pink or purple flowers in early spring.

Description

''Cardamine angustata'' has basal leaves which can be as large as 24 centimeters, consisting of three leaflets borne on a 3 to 16 centimeter long petiole. The erect unbranched stem is 12 to 30 centimeters tall, and can be smooth or pubescent. There are two or three leaves on the stem, which are different in morphology from the basal leaves, they are also divided into three leaflets, but these are only 2 to 7 centimeters long and 3 to 6 millimeters wide. The flowers are borne in a raceme. The petals are 9 to 18 millimeters long and 2 to 5 millimeters wide. The fruit is linear, 2.5 to 4 centimeters long and 1.5 to 2.5 millimeters wide.

Distribution and habitat

''Cardamine angustata'' is widely distributed in the eastern

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, although local distribution may be spotty. It has been recorded in

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, D.C.,

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, Oklahoma,

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, and

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. In

, it grows in habitats such as well-drained floodplain forests and mesic to dry-mesic upland forests. Virginia Botanical Associates. (2014). Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora (http://www.vaplantatlas.org). c/o Virginia Botanical Associates, Blacksburg. The presence of this species is dependent on appropriate

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

, and it may be eliminated from an area by development, changes in land use, or competition with

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species adv ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15538072 angustata Flora of the United States Plants described in 1903