Slender toothwort facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Slender toothwort |
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Dentaria heterophylla Nutt. |
The slender toothwort (its scientific name is Cardamine angustata) is a small plant that grows in the eastern United States. It's a perennial plant, which means it lives for more than two years, coming back each spring. This plant produces pretty white, pink, or purple flowers when spring first arrives.
What the Slender Toothwort Looks Like
The slender toothwort has leaves near its base that can grow quite large, up to 24 centimeters (about 9.5 inches) long. These leaves have three smaller parts, called leaflets, and are attached to a stem that can be 3 to 16 centimeters long.
The main stem of the plant stands straight up and doesn't have branches. It grows to be about 12 to 30 centimeters (around 5 to 12 inches) tall. This stem can be smooth or a bit fuzzy. There are usually two or three leaves on the stem itself. These stem leaves look different from the ones at the base. They also have three leaflets, but these are smaller, only 2 to 7 centimeters long and very narrow, about 3 to 6 millimeters wide.
The flowers of the slender toothwort grow in a cluster called a raceme. Each flower has petals that are 9 to 18 millimeters long and 2 to 5 millimeters wide. After the flowers bloom, the plant produces a long, thin fruit. This fruit is about 2.5 to 4 centimeters long and 1.5 to 2.5 millimeters wide.
Where Slender Toothwort Grows and Lives
The slender toothwort is found across many states in the eastern United States. While it's widespread, you might not find it everywhere in those states; its growth can be a bit patchy.
It has been seen in places like Alabama, Arkansas, Washington, D.C., Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
In Virginia, for example, it likes to grow in certain types of forests. You can find it in forests on floodplains that drain water well, or in upland forests that are not too wet and not too dry.
For this plant to survive, it needs the right kind of habitat. If its home changes too much because of new buildings, different ways land is used, or if other plants that don't belong there (called invasive species) take over, the slender toothwort might disappear from that area.
