Lady’s smock, Wavy Bitter-cress, Woodland Bittercress
Cardamine flexuosa

Family: Brassicaceae

What it is like

A cabbage family herb. It grows each year from seeds. It grows up to 50 cm tall. It usually has several low branches. There are a ring of leaves at the base. The flowers are 3-4 mm across. The ripe pod is 1.2-2.5 cm long by 1-1.5 mm wide.

Used in medicine. There are about 160 Cardamine species. They are mostly in damp places in temperate regions.

Where it is found

It is a temperate plant. It grows in mountain slopes, roadsides, fields, clearings, wastelands, damp fields, roadsides, grasslands, disturbed sites, stream sides, clearings, running water, wet forests, dry sites, greenhouses; near sea level to 3600 m altitude in China. In Argentina it grows to 2,000 m above sea level. Tasmania Herbarium. In Yunnan.

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Argentina, Asia, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Britain, China, East Africa, Europe, Finland, Hawaii, Himalayas, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kashmir, Korea, Laos, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mediterranean, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Northeastern India, Norway, Pacific, Pakistan, Philippines, Scandinavia, SE Asia, Sikkim, South America, Tasmania, Thailand, Venezuela, Vietnam, North and South America, Zimbabwe

How it is used for food

The leaves are cooked and eaten.

Edible parts

Leaves, root, shoots, flowers

How it is grown

Leaves are available all year round.

Its other names

Local names

Sheshe sho, Skogkarse

Synonyms

Cardamine hirsuta var. formosana Hayata.; Barbarea arisanensis (Hayata) S. S. Ying; Cardamine arisanensis Hayata; Cardamine debilis D. Don (1825), not Banks ex de Candolle (1821); Cardamine flexuosa subsp. debilis O. E. Schulz; Cardamine flexuosa subsp. debilis var. occulata (Hornemann) O. E. Schulz; Cardamine flexuosa var. debilis (O. E. Schulz) T. Y. Cheo & R. C. Fang; Cardamine flexuosa var. ovatifolia T. Y. Cheo & R. C. Fang; Cardamine hirsuta Linnaeus var. flaccida Franchet; Cardamine hirsuta subsp.flexuosa (Withering) J. D. Hooker; Cardamine hirsuta var. omeiensis T. Y. Cheo & R. C. Fang; Cardamine hirsuta var. sylvatica (Link) Syme; Cardamine occulata Hornemann; Cardamine scutata Thunberg subsp. flexuosa (Withering) H. Hara; Cardamine sylvatica Link; Cardamine zollingeri Tur-czaninow; Nasturtium obliquum Zollinger