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Hairy Bitter Cress
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Hairy Bitter Cress
ative Herb Photo: Thingnam Girija
Common name: Hairy Bitter Cress, Lamb's Cress, Land Cress, Hoary Bitter Cress • Adi: Oram-petsik • Manipuri: ꯎꯆꯤ ꯍꯡꯥꯝ উচী হংগাম Uchi hangam • Tangkhul: Shiwokkayanghan
Botanical name: Cardamine hirsuta    Family: Brassicaceae (Mustard family)

Hairy Bitter Cress is a winter annual plant native to Europe and Asia. It has unique foliage that makes it is easy to identify among other weeds. The leaflets on the foliage have a club shape, evident on even small seedlings. Leaves of bittercress seedlings are often simple, while leaves that develop later are generally compound. The small white flowers are borne in a corymb on wiry green stems, soon followed by the seeds and often continuing to flower as the first seeds ripen. Each flower has 4 white petals, generally 3 to 5 mm in diameter. The seed are borne in siliquae which, as with many mustard family species, will burst explosively, often when touched, sending the seeds flying far from the parent plant. Hairy Bitter Cress is widespread in the world. It is also found in the Himalayas, up to altitudes of 3000 m.

Identification credit: Navendu Pagé Photographed in Sundar Nursery, Delhi.

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