Wildflower (forb) · Brassicaceae
Bulbous bittercress
Cardamine bulbosa
Bulbous bittercress is recorded as native to 33 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 912 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Bulbous bittercress at a glance
- Native in
- 912 counties, across 33 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a PLANTS minimum temperature −33°F
- Mature height
- 1.4 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −33°F; zone 4a winters bottom out at −30°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Bulbous bittercress is recorded as native to 33 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 912 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 912 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 18 counties
- Arkansas 39 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 12 counties
- Georgia 7 counties
- Illinois 79 counties
- Indiana 69 counties
- Iowa 12 counties
- Kansas 6 counties
- Kentucky 55 counties
- Louisiana 35 counties
- Massachusetts 7 counties
- Michigan 39 counties
- Minnesota 49 counties
- Mississippi 19 counties
- Missouri 65 counties
- Nebraska 9 counties
- New Hampshire 2 counties
- New Jersey 17 counties
- New York 28 counties
- Ohio 71 counties
- Oklahoma 4 counties
- Pennsylvania 54 counties
- South Carolina 8 counties
- South Dakota 4 counties
- Tennessee 56 counties
- Texas 17 counties
- Vermont 3 counties
- Virginia 59 counties
- West Virginia 24 counties
- Wisconsin 42 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 1.4 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Single Crown
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- None
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 30 to 55 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 5 to 6.8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 10 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −33°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 90
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Black
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Brassicaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- CABU3
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Cardamine bulbosa (PLANTS symbol CABU3).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources