Cardamine hirsuta is most similar to the wavy bittercress, cardamine flexuosa; it is most easily differentiated by the stamens, which number four rather than six.
Common name:
Hairy bittercress
Family:
Scientific name:
Cardamine hirsuta
Main flower color:
Range:
All across the UK
Height:
Up to 30 cm
Habitat:
Waste and disturbed ground, rocky places, old walls, gardens; relatively dry locations
Flowers:
Around 3 mm in diameter; four green sepals, four clawed white petals, and four stamens, formed in a small, compact cluster on top of mostly hairless, ridged stems. Sepals are about half as long as the petals
Fruit:
Narrow cylinders, reddish to green, up to 25 mm long; extending some way above the flowers
Leaves:
Basal leaves are pinnately divided into an odd number of rounded lobes, while the one to four stem leaves are smaller. Upper leaf surfaces have a sparse hair covering
Season:
February to November
Rarity:
★★★★★
