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Herbs annual, (7-)10-30(-40) cm tall, slender, glabrous or sparsely to densely pilose throughout. Stems erect, 1 to several from base, often branched above, somewhat flexuous. Basal leaves rosulate or not, often withered by anthesis; petiole 0.5-1.5 cm; leaf blade 1.5-5 cm, pinnatisect; lateral lobes 3-5 on each side of midvein, oblong, obovate, or suborbicular, sessile or petiolulate, subequaling or smaller than terminal lobe, entire or 3(-5)-toothed or-lobed. Cauline leaves including petiole (1.5-)2-6(-7) × 0.8-2.2 cm, pinnatisect or pectinate; petiole not auriculate at base; lateral lobes (2-)4-7(or 8) on each side of midvein, filiform, linear, or narrowly oblong, 3-10(-16) × 0.3-3 mm, sessile, entire or rarely 1-3-toothed; terminal lobe similar to lateral ones or slightly larger. Fruiting pedicels divaricate or ascending, 4-10 mm, slender. Sepals oblong, 1-1.5(-2) × 0.3-0.5 mm, membranous at margin and apex. Petals white, oblanceolate, (1.5-)1.8-2.5(-3) × 0.4-0.8(-1) mm. Stamens 6; filaments 1.4-2.5 mm; anthers ovate, 0.2-0.4 mm. Ovules 20-50 per ovary. Fruit linear, (0.5-)1-2(-2.5) cm × 0.6-0.9 mm; valves glabrous, torulose; style 0.3-0.7(-1) mm. Seeds pale brown, oblong-ovate, 0.6-0.9 × 0.4-0.6 mm, narrowly margined or not. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jun-Jul. 2n = 16.
Annual or biennial with glabrous, mostly solitary stems 1–3 dm; terminal lfl of basal lvs oblong to broadly cuneate-obovate; cauline lvs commonly 2–4 cm, with 3–6 pairs of segments, the terminal segment linear to cuneate-oblong, entire or toothed, the lateral not much smaller, linear to linear-spatulate or narrowly oblong, usually 1–3 mm wide and entire, not decurrent; fls and fr much like no. 13 [Cardamine pensylvanica Muhl.], but the stylar beak not over 1 mm; 2n=16. Usually in dry soil; Que. and Nf. to Minn., s. to Ga. and Ark.; also in the Old World. The Amer. pls are var. arenicola (Britton) O. E. Schulz.
Like C. hirsuta but entirely glabrous, more branched along the stems and with less prominent leaf-rosette.. Cauline leaves usually numerous; leaflets narrower (narrowly elliptic or obovate to lanceolate), narrowly cuneate, entire or sparsely incised, often sessile or indistinctly petioled.. Petals shorter than 2.5 mm.. Stamens 4–6.
A cabbage family herb. It grows about 30 cm tall.
