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Weed Identification in Nurseries and Landscapes

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Hairy bittercress - Cardamine hirsuta L.
Weed Identification in Nurseries and Landscapes > Hairy bittercress
Hairy bittercress fruit
Hairy bittercress flowering stem
Hairy bittercress flowering stem.
Hairy bittercress flower
Hairy bittercress fruit. Hairy bittercress flower.
Hairy bittercress leaf
Hairy bittercress leaf.
Hairy bittercress seedling
Hairy bittercress seedling.


Life cycle: Rapidly growing winter or summer annual.

Stems: Mostly erect, smooth, angled stems branch mainly at the base. Stems are less than 12 inches tall.

Flowers and fruit: Very small, white flowers with four petals are arranged in terminal clusters. Fruit are very narrow, about 1-inch-long, flattened, upward-pointing capsules that explosively eject numerous small seeds.

Leaves: Round cotyledons on long petioles are followed by heart- to kidney-shaped first two true leaves. Subsequent leaves are compound with two to eight alternately arranged leaflets and larger terminal leaflet. Leaflet margins are shallowly toothed to lobed. Mostly hairy leaves initially develop from a basal rosette, followed by a few smaller, narrow stem leaves. Basal leaves are persistent through maturity.

Reproduction: Seeds. Multiple generations may be produced in a single year.
Similar weeds: Smallflowered bittercress
(Cardamine parviflora L.) Differs by having up to six leaflet pairs and basal leaves that are not present at maturity.
Hairy bittercress rosette
Hairy bittercress rosette.
The MSU IPM Program maintains this site as an access point to pest management information at MSU. The IPM Program is administered within the Department of Entomology, fueled by research from the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, delivered to citizens through MSU Extension, and proud to be a part of Project GREEEN.
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Updated: 10/18/07