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Cardamine pensylvanica

Muhl. ex Willd.

Pennsylvania Bittercress

G5Secure Found in 17 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
UnknownThreat Impact
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.130552
Element CodePDBRA0K0Y0
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVascular Plant
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomPlantae
PhylumAnthophyta
ClassDicotyledoneae
OrderCapparales
FamilyBrassicaceae
GenusCardamine
Other Common Names
Cardamine de Pennsylvanie (FR) Pennsylvania bittercress (EN) Quaker 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.
Conservation Status
Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2
Review Date2025-07-16
Change Date1984-02-16
Edition Date2025-07-16
Edition AuthorsN. Ventrella (2025)
Threat ImpactUnknown
Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences> 300
Rank Reasons
Cardamine pensylvanica is a perennial forb occurring in wet habitats, including: marshes, streams, swamps, ditches, springs, crop fields, and shallow waters of streams throughout most of North America north of Mexico, and introduced in the West Indies. There are several thousand estimated occurrences of this species rangewide, which are potentially threatened by development, alteration of hydrology, erosion, recreational activities, invasive species, and other threats in some places. Little is known about threats and trends, but with a large range extent, abundant habitat, preference for light disturbance, and broad habitat preferences, Cardamine pensylvanica is considered secure.
Range Extent Comments
Cardamine pensylvanica occurs in Yukon and Northwest Territories east to Newfoundland, Canada, south throughout Alaska and the continental United States, though it is potentially not found in Arizona and New Mexico (FNA 2010, Weakley and the Southeastern Flora Team 2025). It may also occur as an introduced taxon in Puerto Rico and the West Indies (Kartesz 1996, POWO 2025). The native range extent was estimated to be over 17 million square kilometers using herbarium specimens, photo-based observations, and NatureServe Network occurrence data collected between 1994 and 2025 (GBIF 2025, iNaturalist 2025, NatureServe 2025, RARECAT 2025, SEINet 2025).
Occurrences Comments
By applying a 1 km separation distance to herbarium specimens, photo-based observations, and NatureServe Network occurrence data documented between 1994 and 2025, it is estimated that there are several thousand occurrences in its native range (GBIF 2025, iNaturalist 2025, NatureServe 2025, RARECAT 2025, SEINet 2025).
Threat Impact Comments
Although threats are not widely documented, Cardamine pensylvanica is likely threatened by development, alteration of hydrology, erosion, recreational activities, invasive species, and other threats in some places. However, they are considered negligible given the broad range and large number of occurrences of the species and its somewhat flexible and abundant habitat.
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Cardamine pensylvanica occurs in various wet habitats, including "marshes, streams, swamps, ditches, seepage, springs, lake margins, mesic bottomland and upland forests, wet areas, ledges of sheltered bluffs, banks and shallow water of streams and spring branches, margins of crop fields, [and] waste ground" from 0-2800 m in elevation (FNA 2010).
Terrestrial Habitats
Forest/WoodlandForest EdgeCliffCropland/hedgerow
Palustrine Habitats
HERBACEOUS WETLANDFORESTED WETLANDRiparian
Other Nations (2)
CanadaN5
ProvinceRankNative
British ColumbiaS5Yes
SaskatchewanS4Yes
AlbertaS5Yes
Prince Edward IslandS4Yes
Northwest TerritoriesS3Yes
New BrunswickS5Yes
ManitobaS4Yes
LabradorS2Yes
Nova ScotiaS5Yes
QuebecS5Yes
Yukon TerritoryS3Yes
OntarioS5Yes
Island of NewfoundlandS4Yes
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
North CarolinaS4Yes
OklahomaSNRYes
IndianaS5Yes
New JerseyS5Yes
IowaS4Yes
GeorgiaSNRYes
PennsylvaniaS5Yes
MarylandSNRYes
West VirginiaS5Yes
New HampshireSNRYes
South CarolinaS5Yes
District of ColumbiaSNRYes
KansasS3Yes
NevadaS2Yes
North DakotaSNRYes
WisconsinSNRYes
IdahoSNRYes
MassachusettsS5Yes
AlabamaSNRYes
VirginiaS5Yes
FloridaSNRYes
Rhode IslandSNRYes
UtahSNRYes
MontanaS5Yes
DelawareS4Yes
IllinoisSNRYes
VermontS5Yes
ConnecticutSNRYes
MichiganSNRYes
New YorkS5Yes
MississippiSNRYes
LouisianaSNRYes
South DakotaSNRYes
TennesseeSNRYes
WashingtonSNRYes
TexasSNRYes
NebraskaS1Yes
ColoradoS3Yes
AlaskaS1Yes
KentuckyS5Yes
OregonSNRYes
MinnesotaSNRYes
MaineSNRYes
OhioSNRYes
WyomingS3Yes
CaliforniaSNRYes
MissouriSNRYes
ArkansasSNRYes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
Unknown/undetermined———

—

Plant Characteristics
DurationANNUAL, BIENNIAL
Economic Value (Genus)No
Roadless Areas (17)
Idaho (5)
AreaForestAcres
Bighorn - WeitasNez Perce-Clearwater National Forest254,845
Borah PeakSalmon-Challis National Forest130,463
Italian PeakCaribou-Targhee National Forest141,158
Lemhi RangeSalmon-Challis National Forest308,533
West Meadow CreekNez Perce-Clearwater National Forest115,949
Maine (1)
AreaForestAcres
Caribou - Speckled ExtWhite Mountain National Forest5,988
Montana (1)
AreaForestAcres
West Big HoleBeaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest133,563
Oregon (2)
AreaForestAcres
HuckleberryWallowa-Whitman National Forest11,238
Mclennon MountainWillamette National Forest8,085
Pennsylvania (2)
AreaForestAcres
Minister ValleyAllegheny National Forest1,417
Tracy RidgeAllegheny National Forest9,034
Tennessee (1)
AreaForestAcres
Stone MountainCherokee National Forest5,367
Vermont (1)
AreaForestAcres
Bread LoafGreen Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests1,768
Washington (1)
AreaForestAcres
ManastashWenatchee National Forest11,155
West Virginia (2)
AreaForestAcres
Cranberry Glades Botanical AreaMonongahela National Forest785
Falls Of Hills CreekMonongahela National Forest6,925
Wyoming (1)
AreaForestAcres
Phillips RidgeBridger-Teton National Forest10,108
References (9)
  1. 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.
  2. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). 2025. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) data portal. Online. Available: https://www.gbif.org/ (accessed 2025).
  3. iNaturalist. 2025. Online. Available: https://www.inaturalist.org (accessed 2025).
  4. 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.
  5. Kartesz, J.T. 1996. Species distribution data at state and province level for vascular plant taxa of the United States, Canada, and Greenland (accepted records), from unpublished data files at the North Carolina Botanical Garden, December, 1996.
  6. NatureServe. 2025. NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia.
  7. <p>NatureServe's Rapid Analysis of Rarity and Endangerment Conservation Assessment Tool (RARECAT). 2025. Version: 2.1.1 (released April 04, 2025).</p>
  8. Southwest Environmental Information Network (SEINet). 2025. Collections Databases. Online. Available: https://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/collections/index.php (accessed 2025).
  9. Weakley, A.S., and Southeastern Flora Team. 2025. Flora of the southeastern United States Web App. Edition of February 18, 2025. University of North Carolina Herbarium (NCU), North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Online. Available: https://fsus.ncbg.unc.edu (accessed 2025).