Little bittercress (Cardamine oligosperma ) on Apr 30, 2008
Submitter has sample
Description of specimen
Suddenly this spring my front yard was for first time infested w/ this plant. It was likely there early spring but I didn't notice it until recently when it got brown and stiff. Now, if I walk across the yard, tiny seeds from this plant spray everywhere. I've not cut the grass out front, but my neighbors on both sides have cut theirs, so I don't know if their yards, too, were infested w/ this plant or if for some reason it's invading my small front yard only. I'd of course like to know how best to get rid of it altogether, since it seems to be rapidly spreading many tiny seeds, taking over...
The plant that you mention I believe is little bittercress (Cardamine oligosperma), and is actually a native plant that does indeed act quite weedy in gardens, vegetable crops, orchards, nurseries, roadsides, etc. It does get weedy in gardens and disturbed places (as you well know!), but I have not seen it negatively impacting natural areas in Oregon. Yes - it is a prolific seed producer with explosive seed pods. The best thing to do, is to manually pull-out these plants every year, before the seeds ripen. The plants should easily pull-out from moist soil, and just try to get all of the plants while either still in the basal rosette form or just when flowering. Good luck!
Mandy Tu (The Nature Conservancy)
Mandy Tu
April 30, 2008, 3:18 a.m.