Medicinal Monday - Limestone Bittercress

Cardamine douglassii, commonly referred to as limestone bittercress or purple cress, is a perennial forb native to the eastern and central United States as well as the province of Ontario in Canada. Being in the Brassica family, this plant has many health benefits. It contains vitamin C, beta-carotene, lutein, and glucosinolates that are known to remove carcinogens from the body. It is very rare in Connecticut and o the Special Concern list. Many Native American communities found medicinal uses for this plant. 

About Limestone Bittercress

This early-blooming wildflower blooms in the understory of the woodlands and flourishes in moist loamy soil. It can often be found blooming under deciduous trees, especially large oaks.  It can grow up to 12 inches tall and has an erect, hairy stem, and is considered to be a tall plant for a spring wildflower.  It is topped with a raceme of buds and flowers. At the base of each plant are one to two basal leaves that have serrated edges. The alternate leaves are oval with serrated edges and clasp the central stem. The leaves become smaller and more narrow toward the top of the stem. The soft blooms of this plant, which can be dropping or upright are pale purple to pink and have four petals, 4 sepals, and several stamens. They grow from the apex of the raceme. These fragrant flowers bloom in clusters for about two weeks. Each flower is replaced by a seedpod that splits in half lengthwise to release its seeds. The root system is fibrous and tuberous. The flowers look almost exactly like their cousin, Cardamine concatenate, what differentiates them are their leaves.

Medicinal Uses

The Iroquois considered the root to be a valuable medicine and used it as an antidote to counteract all kinds of poison. They also used it ceremonially, to divine a perpetrator of witchcraft.

Did You Know...

Other names for Limestone Bittercress are Purple cress and Pink Spring Cress.

The name, Cardamine is derived from the Greek, kardamon, meaning cress. David Douglas, (1798-1834), a Scottish plant collector for the Royal Horticultural Society, is the namesake for douglassii

It has a basal leaf that is present all winter, but when spring comes, the leaf falls to the ground.

Deer rarely feed on this plant.

The leaves have a bitter taste.