Cardamine hirsuta - bittercress

	DISSEMINATION

Kingdom	Plantae
Sub Kingdom	Tracheobionta (vascular plant)
Superdivision	Spermatophyta (seed plant)
Division	Magnoliophyta (flowering plant)
Class	Magnoliopsida (dicotyledon)
Order	Capparales
Family	Brassicaceae
Genus	*Cardamine*
Species	*hirsuta*
Classification	L.
Common name	bittercress

Geographic Range	it is native to Europe and western Asia.
Physical Characteristics	annual plant, from 7 to 30 centimeters high; the stems are glabrous, erect, branched at the base. Pinnatesect basal leaves are clustered in a rosette, with 1-3 or five pairs of oval leaflets and a bigger and kidney-shaped terminal leaflet. There are 2-4 cauline leaves, pinnatesect and smaller than basal leaves. Flowers are grouped in clusters at the end of the flower canes; they are made up of 4 white, violet shaded, 2-3 millimeters long petals. The fruit is a silique, which, when the seeds are ripe, suddenly opens setting the unwinged 15-20 seeds free.
Habitat	disturbed soils and cultivated fields, walls, humid areas, fields.

Sources
References	Department of Plant Pathology, Physiology & Weed Science - Virginia Tech University
Web References	http://www.ppws.vt.edu/
Source of the photo	INRA Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - Paris - France