''Cardamine concatenata'', the cutleaved toothwort, crow's toes, pepper root or purple-flowered toothwort, is a flowering plant in
Brassicaceae
Brassicaceae () or (the older) Cruciferae () is a medium-sized and economically important family of flowering plants commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family. Most are herbaceous plants, while some are shrubs. The l ...
. It owes its name to the tooth-like appearance of its
rhizome.
It is a perennial woodland
wildflower
A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant probably is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is in any way different from the ...
native to eastern
North America.
It is considered a
spring ephemeral
An ephemeral plant is one marked by short life cycles. The word ephemeral means transitory or quickly fading. In regard to plants, it refers to several distinct growth strategies. The first, spring ephemeral, refers to perennial plants that emerge ...
and blooms in March, April, and/or May.
Description
The vegetative parts of this plant, which can reach 20–40 cm, arise from a segmented
rhizome. The leaves are on long
petioles, deeply and palmately dissected into five segments with large "teeth" on the margins. The white to pinkish
flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...
s are held above the foliage in a spike.
Fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...
is an elongated pod which can be up to 4 cm long.
Its native habitats include rich woods, wooded bottomlands, limestone outcrops, and rocky banks and bluffs.
Uses
The roots can be washed, chopped and ground in vinegar to be used as a
horseradish
Horseradish (''Armoracia rusticana'', syn. ''Cochlearia armoracia'') is a perennial plant of the family Brassicaceae (which also includes mustard, wasabi, broccoli, cabbage, and radish). It is a root vegetable, cultivated and used worldwide ...
substitute.
References
External links
Flora of North America: ''Cardamine concatenata''
concatenata
Ephemeral plants
Flora of North America
Plants described in 1803
{{Brassicales-stub