E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Cardamine bellidifolia L.
Alpine Bittercress (alpine bitter-cress)
Brassicaceae (Mustard family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Ryan Batten  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #23795)

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Distribution of Cardamine bellidifolia
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Species Information

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General:
More or less tufted, perennial herb from a taproot and often a branched stem-base with somewhat rhizome-like branches, leaf bases persistent; stems several, few-leaved, 2-10 cm long, glabrous.
Leaves:
Basal leaves in rosettes, thick, fleshy, entire or shallowly 1-3 lobed, blades 5-30 mm long, diamond-shaped to elliptic to egg-shaped, narrowed to slender stalks 2-4 times as long; stem leaves 0-3, reduced.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a few-flowered, umbel-like raceme; flower stalks 4-10 mm long, ascending; petals white, 3-5 mm long; sepals 1.5-2 mm long.
Fruits:
Siliques, erect, 1.5-3.5 cm long, 1-1.5 mm wide; styles stout, 1-3 mm long.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Moist scree slopes, gravelly areas and mossy rocks in the upper montane to alpine zones; frequent in N BC, rare southward and on Vancouver Island; circumpolar, E to NF and S to ME, NH and N CA.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Cardamine bellidifolia

The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
Site Information
 Value / Class

Minimum

Average

Maximum
Elevation (metres) 1330 1762 2590
Slope Gradient (%) 2 21 100
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W] 		20 77 350
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric] 		1 3 5
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class		 B
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:		 21
Modal BEC Zone Class
 BAFA
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: BAFA(17), cma(1), ESSF(1), IMA(2)

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Flora North America treatment for Brassicaceae
Genetic information (NCBI Taxonomy Database)
 International Plant Names Index
 Taxonomic Information from the World Flora Online
 Integrated Taxonomic Information System

Additional Photo Sources

UBC Herbarium Scanned Collection Record
 Images From CalPhoto
UT Austin's Native Plant Database
 Google Image Search
 Flickr Image Search

General References

Google Scholar Search
Family References
 General Botanical References for BC
Recommended citation: Author, Date. Page title. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2020. E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. [Accessed: 2022-05-28 9:55:57 PM ]
Disclaimer: The information contained in the E-Flora atlas pages is derived from expert sources as cited in each section. This information is scientifically based. E-Flora also acts as a portal to other sites via deep links. As always, users should refer to the original sources for complete information. E-Flora BC is not responsible for the accuracy or completeness of the original information.
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