Blue Ridge Bittercress
Cardamine flagellifera
Found in seepages, on streambanks, and in moist cove or bottomland forests, mainly at moderate to low elevations. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- Up to about 10 inches
- Light
- Partial shade, Full shade
- Soil moisture
- Moist to standing water
Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- March to May
- Fruiting season
- June to July
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 3 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Streams, rivers and their banks
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 137 animals.
- Rose-breasted GrosbeakPheucticus ludovicianus
- Summer TanagerPiranga rubra
- Swainson's WarblerLimnothlypis swainsonii
- Alder FlycatcherEmpidonax alnorum
- Blackburnian WarblerDendroica fusca
- Canada WarblerWilsonia canadensis
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Red-shouldered HawkButeo lineatus
- Rusty BlackbirdEuphagus carolinus
- Brown-headed CowbirdMolothrus ater
- Eurasian Collared-doveStreptopelia decaocto
- Fish CrowCorvus ossifragus
- Indigo BuntingPasserina cyanea
- Prothonotary WarblerProtonotaria citrea
- White-eyed VireoVireo griseus
- American Black DuckAnas rubripes
- Black-crowned Night-heronNycticorax nycticorax
- Canada GooseBranta canadensis
- CanvasbackAythya valisineria
- Cliff SwallowPetrochelidon pyrrhonota
- Eastern PhoebeSayornis phoebe
- GadwallAnas strepera
- Great Blue HeronArdea herodias
- Great EgretArdea alba
Who uses this plant?
3CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Cardamine
- Anthocharis mideaFalcate Orangetip
- Evergestis pallidataPurple-Backed Cabbageworm Moth
- Pieris virginiensisWest Virginia White
12BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Cardamine
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
1Specialist beesPollen specialists
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Cardamine
- Lagopus lagopusWillow Ptarmigan
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Brassicaceae
- Flower color
- White
- Fruit begins
- June
- Fruit ends
- July
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “March to May” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Fruit begins · “June” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “July” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Height · “Up to about 10 inches” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Partial shade; Full shade (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- primary_flower_color · “white” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Soil · “Moist; Water; Wet (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Blue Ridge Bitter Cress
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | S1 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G3 |
| VA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Virginia DCR Natural Heritage rare plant list
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications