Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Cardamine hirsuta

Flowering plant. Photographer Don Wood, Batehaven, south of Batemans Bay

Line drawing. b. leaf hairs; c. inflorescence. M Moir, National Herbarium of Victoria, © 2021 Royal Botanic Gardens Board

Common name

Common Bittercress, Hairy Woodcress

Family

Brassicaceae

Where found

Widespread weed in moist garden situations, including paving cracks and lawns; also elsewhere in moist habitats. Native of Europe. Sydney area and the ACT. Sporadic elsewhere.

Notes

Introduced slender annual herb to 0.35 m high, with a taproot, branched. Sparsely hairy to hairless. Basal leaves compound, usually 2-8 cm long, with 3-15 leaflets, margins fringed to sparsely fringed. Stem leaves 0-5 and becoming smaller in size up the stem, 1-8 cm long, with 3-7 leaflets, margins fringed to sparsely fringed. Flowers with 4 petals, each 3-4 mm long, white. Stamens usually 4. Flowers in clusters, usually many-flowered. Flowers all year.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Cardamine~hirsuta (accessed 7 January, 2021)