New Zealand bitter-cress facts for kids
Quick facts for kids New Zealand bitter-cress |
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| Flowers | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Cardamine
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| Species: |
corymbosa
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| Synonyms | |
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The Cardamine corymbosa, also known as the New Zealand bitter-cress, is a flowering plant. This means it produces flowers, fruits, and seeds. It belongs to the plant family called Brassicaceae, which is also known as the mustard family.
This plant naturally grows on the cold, far-southern islands of Australasia, like those near New Zealand and Australia. However, it has become an invasive species in other places, especially in plant nurseries. An invasive species is a plant that spreads quickly and can cause problems for other plants in an area where it doesn't naturally belong. The second part of its scientific name, corymbosa, describes how its flowers grow together in a specific cluster.
What it Looks Like
The New Zealand bitter-cress is a small plant that spreads out close to the ground. Its stems are thin and delicate, and they creep along the soil. This plant can make new plants by sending roots down from its stems where they touch the ground.
Its leaves grow from the base of the plant and are made up of several smaller parts, called leaflets. Each leaf usually has three to five leaflets. The leaflet at the very end of the leaf is often twice as big as the ones on the sides.
Where it Lives and Grows
This plant is originally from New Zealand's far southern islands, like the Auckland and Campbell Islands. It also grows on Macquarie Island, which belongs to Australia. In these places, you can find it in cold, treeless mountain areas called alpine tundra and on rocky parts of the coast.
People have accidentally moved this plant to other parts of the world, including North America and Europe. In these new places, it often grows as a weed in plant nurseries. Nurseries are places where young plants are grown for sale. The bitter-cress often thrives inside large plastic tunnels, called polytunnels, which are used to protect plants.
