Home/Species/ Blue Ridge Bittercress

Cardamine flagellifera

O.E. Schulz

Blue Ridge Bittercress

G3Vulnerable Found in 8 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G3VulnerableGlobal Rank

MediumThreat Impact

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.144392

Element CodePDBRA0K0E0

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVascular Plant

Endemicendemic to a single nation

KingdomPlantae

PhylumAnthophyta

ClassDicotyledoneae

OrderCapparales

FamilyBrassicaceae

GenusCardamine

Other Common Names

Blue Ridge bittercress (EN)

Concept Reference

Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

Taxonomic Comments

Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2010) does not distinguish infraspecific taxa in Cardamine flagellifera.

Conservation Status

Rank MethodLegacy Rank calculation - Excel v3.1x

Review Date2018-09-25

Change Date1989-09-01

Edition Date2018-09-25

Edition AuthorsD. Gries (1998), rev. C. Nordman (2018)

Threat ImpactMedium

Range Extent20,000-200,000 square km (about 8000-80,000 square miles)

Number of Occurrences21 - 80

Rank Reasons

Cardamine flagellifera is endemic to the Southern Appalachians of North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, and West Virginia. It has moderate threats, and is not common anywhere within its range. Populations are most numerous in Georgia and North Carolina.

Range Extent Comments

Cardamine flagellifera is nearly endemic to the Southern Appalachians of western North Carolina, South Carolina, east Tennessee, northeast Georgia, western Virginia, and southern West Virginia (NatureServe Natural Heritage Network Database 2018, Weakley 2015). This plant also occurs disjunct in the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee (Beck and Van Horn 2007, NatureServe Natural Heritage Network Database 2018).

Occurrences Comments

Cardamine flagellifera is not common anywhere within its range. Populations are most numerous in northeast Georgia and western North Carolina.

Threat Impact Comments

Feral hog rooting and in some cases deer browsing are threats (Rock 2000). Loss of habitat, and some forest management practices are moderate threats (Southern Appalachian Species Viability Project 2002).

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Cardamine flagellifera occurs in seeps, on streambanks, bottomland forests and in moist cove forests at moderate to lower elevations in the Southern Appalachians (Poindexter 2013, Weakley 2015). In southwest Virginia it occurs in rocky seepages (Weakley et al. 2012). In the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee it has been found on deciduous forested slopes (Beck and Van Horn 2007).

Palustrine Habitats

HERBACEOUS WETLANDFORESTED WETLANDBog/fenRiparian

Other Nations (1)

United StatesN3

Province	Rank	Native
Virginia	S1	Yes
South Carolina	S1	Yes
North Carolina	S3	Yes
Tennessee	S2	Yes
Georgia	S3	Yes
West Virginia	S3	Yes

Threat Assessments

Threat	Scope	Severity	Timing
1 - Residential & commercial development	Small (1-10%)	Serious or 31-70% pop. decline	High (continuing)
5 - Biological resource use	Small (1-10%)	Moderate or 11-30% pop. decline	High (continuing)
5.3 - Logging & wood harvesting	Small (1-10%)	Moderate or 11-30% pop. decline	High (continuing)
8 - Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases	Restricted (11-30%)	Serious or 31-70% pop. decline	High (continuing)
8.1 - Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases	Restricted (11-30%)	Serious or 31-70% pop. decline	High (continuing)
8.2 - Problematic native species/diseases	Small (1-10%)	Serious or 31-70% pop. decline	High (continuing)

Plant Characteristics

DurationPERENNIAL

Economic Value (Genus)No

Roadless Areas (8)

Georgia (3)

Area	Forest	Acres
Ben Gap	Chattahoochee National Forest	1,292
Joe Gap	Chattahoochee National Forest	5,321
Sarah's Creek	Chattahoochee National Forest	6,888

North Carolina (5)

Area	Forest	Acres
Cherry Cove (addition)	Nantahala National Forest	836
Chunky Gal (addition)	Nantahala National Forest	3,336
Harper Creek	Pisgah National Forest	7,325
Jarrett Creek	Pisgah National Forest	7,485
Mackey Mountain	Pisgah National Forest	5,934

References (9)

Beck, J.T. and G.S. Van Horn. 2007. The vascular flora of Prentice Cooper State Forest and Wildlife Management Area, Tennessee. Castanea 72 (1): 15-44.
Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 2010. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 7. Magnoliophyta: Salicaceae to Brassicaceae. Oxford University Press, New York. xxii + 797 pp.
Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Poindexter, D.B. 2013. Vascular flora and plant communities of Alleghany County, North Carolina. Journal ot the Botanical Research Institute of Texas 7(1): 529 – 574.
Rock, J. 2000. Managing rare plant populations with fire in Great Smokey Mountains National Park, pp. 116–119. <i>In</i> D. Yaussy (ed.). Proceedings: Workshop on Fire, People, and the Central Hardwoods Landscape. Gen.Tech. Rep. NE-274. U.S.Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station, Newton Square, PA. Online. Available: https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/3762
Southern Appalachian Species Viability Project. 2002. A partnership between the U.S. Forest Service-Region 8, Natural Heritage Programs in the Southeast, NatureServe, and independent scientists to develop and review data on 1300+ regionally and locally rare species in the Southern Appalachian and Alabama region. Database (Access 97) provided to the U.S. Forest Service by NatureServe, Durham, North Carolina.
Weakley, A.S. 1996. Flora of the Carolinas and Virginia: working draft of 23 May 1996. The Nature Conservancy, Southeast Regional Office, Southern Conservation Science Dept., Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Unpaginated.
Weakley, A.S. 2015. Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States. Working Draft of 21 May 2015. University of North Carolina Herbarium (NCU), North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Online. Available: www.herbarium.unc.edu/FloraArchives/WeakleyFlora_2015-05-29.pdf (Accessed 2015).
Weakley, A. S., J. C. Ludwig, and J. F. Townsend. 2012a. Flora of Virginia. Bland Crowder, ed. Foundation of the Flora of Virginia Project Inc., Richmond. Fort Worth: Botanical Research Institute of Texas Press.

Cardamine flagellifera

Habitat

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