Your Relatives Drive Me Crazy

Cardamine angustata

Slender toothwort (Cardamine angustata, formerly Dentaria heterophylla) is a favorite spring perennial of mine. It first appears in late December when its low foliage braves the winter cold, long before any other ephemeral shows a single sign of life. It won’t bloom until mid-March, after the trout lily (Erythronium umbilicatum) and bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) have won us over with their charms.

Several other species of toothwort have found their way into my garden: cutleaf toothwort (Cardamine concatenata), crinkleroot (Cardamine diphylla), and dissected toothwort (Cardamine dissecta) are all just as lovely, gifts from plant friends over the years. A cousin of theirs, bulbous bittercress (Cardamine bulbosa) came from another friend, transplanted from Greene County, GA.

It is another relative of the toothworts that drives me crazy this time of year: hairy bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta). This cousin - once removed?-  from Europe also pops up in December.  Small rosettes form in slight openings in the lawn, taking advantage of the smallest amount of light. The seeds of this annual were dropped the spring before. I pull every one that I can find, stuffing them into my pockets until I can get inside to trash them. As the weather warms, they pop up faster and faster, seemingly forming slender seedpods – exactly like their other mustard family relatives – almost before I saw their tiny, four-petaled flowers. Argh!

A plateful of hairy bittercress, most of which is going to seed;
if you want to eat it, pick it just before it flowers to get the most foliage.

In the shaded areas of the yard, another favorite is blooming while its cousin also torments me. Starry chickweed (Stellaria pubera) is a lovely native perennial with medium-sized, white flowers in late March and early April.  I love to tell people about this beautiful plant.

Stellaria pubera flower on left; S. media on right

Unfortunately, hearing the name ‘chickweed’ reminds people of its annual cousin, Stellaria media. This pesky weed shows up in the lawn and flower beds. I try to recognize it early and pull it out, but I suspect that I leave a few roots behind to grow again. Argh!

For comparison, I've posed the two flowers side by side; surprise, the native species is much showier!

I suppose I should just give up and make the best of the situation. Both of these weedy relatives are edible. Read more about eating chickweed here and hairy bittercress here (complete with recipes). 

Stellaria media sprawls out from the center

Non-native Cerastium glomeratum

If you’ve heard about the native bittercress (Cardamine pensylvanica), this page has a good description of how it’s different from C. hirsuta.

So hit the road, weedy relatives, and don't let the door hit you on the way out. Be sure to take your even more distant non-native cousin sticky chickweed (Cerastium glomeratum) with you!