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Cardamine oligosperma

Common name:	Spring Cress	Family:	Cruciferae
Author:	Nutt.	Botanical references:	60
Synonyms:	Cardamine umbellata (Greene.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Western N. America - Alaska to California.
Habitat:	Widespread in wet places[60].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	C. hirsuta var. kamtschatica[B,P] C. kamtschatica[B,P] C. oligosperma ssp. kamtschatica[B,P] C. oligosperma var. kamtschatica[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Idaho Bittercress [P], Little Western Bittercress [B], Umbel Bittercress [P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	oligosperma = few seeds;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Capparales. Renamed to Brassicaceae -- Mustard family

Physical Characteristics

Annual/Biennial growing to 0.3m. . The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist or wet soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Bog Garden.

Edible Uses

Leaves.

Leaves - raw or cooked and used as a vegetable[172, 183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Carminative; Digestive.

The plant is carminative and digestive[172].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

We have very little information on this species and do not know if it will be hardy in Britain, though judging by its native range it should succeed outdoors in most parts of this country. A polymorphic species, it is closely related to C. hirsuta[60]. The following notes are based on the general needs of the genus.
Prefers a moist humus rich soil in shade or semi-shade[200] but succeeds in most soils that are not dry[1].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring or autumn in situ.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
Images from the CalPhoto database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Cardamine oligosperma var. kamtschatica (a possible synonym).

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[60] Hitchcock. C. L. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press 1955
A standard flora for Western N. America with lots of information on habitat etc. Five large volumes, it is not for the casual reader.

[172] Schofield. J. J. Discovering Wild Plants - Alaska, W. Canada and the Northwest.
A nice guide to some useful plants in that area.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

Readers Comments

Winter Salads

D Stahl (stestahl@epud.net) Wed May 23 07:17:00 2001

There are three plants I use for winter/early spring salads here on the West Coast of the USA:

Stellaria media, common chickweed, is a rampant weed with a very mild flavor. You don't so much cultivate it as try to eat it faster than it can grow.

Cardamine oligosperma, winter cress, has a nice mild cress taste--the young leaves are best. This cress doesn't put on as much growth as the chickweed, but it's very forgiving of bad soil and cold.

Brassica campestris, field mustard, blossoms in early spring and before the flower heads open they have a pleasant, mild broccoli flavor. Don't eat it from near industrial areas or roadways, as it is reputed to concentrate lead.

I usually pick these three and add some Rumex and dandelion leaves, all from vacant lots and fields--although both the cress and the chickweed grow in with my spring garden plants if I let them!

Details of Growing Condition: West coast USA, mild winters with abundant moisture, freezing temperatures can be expected November through March..

Cross references: Plants: Stellaria media, Brassica campestris. Web-pages: Winter Salads.

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
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