Hairy Bittercress

Cardamine hirsuta

Please keep in mind that it is illegal to uproot a plant without the landowner's consent and care should be taken at all times not to damage wild plants. Wild plants should never be picked for pleasure and some plants are protected by law.
For more information please download the BSBI Code of Conduct PDF document.

Plant Data

Flowering Months:

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

Order:

Brassicales

Family:

Brassicaceae (Cabbage)

Also in this family:

Black Mustard, Common Whitlowgrass, Cuckooflower, Dame's-violet, Danish Scurvygrass, Field Pennycress, Garlic Mustard, Greater Cuckooflower, Greater Periwinkle, Hairy Rock-cress, Hedge Mustard, Hoary Stock, Honesty, Large Bittercress, Lesser Swinecress, Marsh Yellowcress, Oilseed Rape, Purple Rock-cress, Sea Radish, Sea Rocket, Shepherd's Purse, Smith's Pepperwort, Sweet Alyssum, Thale Cress, Wallflower, Watercress, Wavy Bittercress, Wintercress

Type:

Flower

Maximum Size:

30 centimetres tall

Habitats:

Farmland, gardens, rocks, swamps, walls, wasteland, wetland, woodland.

Flower:

White, 4 petals

Tiny and forming clusters at the top. 4 white petals with 4 yellow stamens. Counting the number of stamens is perhaps the most reliable way to distinguish this flower from the almost identical Wavy Bittercress which has 6 yellow stamens.

Fruit:

Long and slender seed pods that split open when ripe.

Leaves:

Basal rosette, anything up to 9 inches long. Compound leaves with alternate leaflets that have one leaf per node along the main upright stem. The leaves persist throughout the winter months.

Aroma:

The leaves are aromatic when bruised.

Other Names:

Common Bittercress, Flick Weed, Hoary Bittercress, Hoary Wood Cress, Jumping Jesus, Lamb's Cress, Land Cress, Pennsylvania Bittercress, Pepperweed, Popping Cress, Shotweed, Small Bittercress, Snapweed, Spring Cress.

Frequency (UK):

Abundant

Distribution Map

Reproduced by kind permission of the BSBI.

Click to open an Interactive Map