Large Bitter-cress - Cardamine amara

Description

Hairless plant about 40 or 50 cm in height with angular stems. Flowers are white, occasionally purplish 11 to 12 mm. Anthers, blackish violet, amethyst or pinkish violet.

Identification difficulty
ID checklist (your specimen should have all of these features)

Larger flowers than other white bitter-cresses; with anthers blackish-violet, amethyst or pinkish violet

Recording advice

General photo of plant in habitat, plus details of the flowers.  As this is becoming scarce, a photo is needed for verification

Habitat

Damp habitats, river and canal banks, marshes.

When to see it

April to June.

Life History

Perennial.

UK Status

Found fairly frequently in Britain in suitable locations, especially in northern England and southern Scotland.

VC55 Status

Occasional in suitable habitats in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 65 of the 617 tetrads.

In the current Checklist (Jeeves, 2011) it is listed as Native, occasional but nearly scarce

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Large Bitter-cress
Species group:
Wildflowers
Kingdom:
Plantae
Order:
Brassicales
Family:
Brassicaceae
Records on NatureSpot:
19
First record:
27/05/2000 (MBNHS;Steve Woodward)
Last record:
12/05/2022 (Hollingworth, Jane)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

10km squares with records

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