Cardamine californica

Milk maids, tooth wort, Tooth Wort

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Milk maids is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native perennial found in the California Floristic Province in generally shaded sites, canyons, and woodland at elevations below 1,400 meters. Flowering from January to May, this plant produces delicate white to pale rose flowers approximately 8 to 13 millimeters long. Growing with erect, simple stems 27 to 60 centimeters tall, it emerges from a spheric to ovoid rhizome deeply buried in the soil. Its leaves feature 3 to 5 leaflets, with the terminal leaflet 2.5 to 7.5 centimeters long, widely ovate to round, and having margins that range from entire to gently dentate. The plant produces slender fruits 2.2 to 5 centimeters long with 12 to 22 small oblong seeds.

Habitat: Generally shaded sites, canyons, woodland

Bloom period: Jan-May

Elevation: < 1400 m

Bioregions: CA-FP

California counties: Humboldt, Kern, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Diego, Ventura, Butte, Santa Barbara, Plumas, Tulare, Orange, San Luis Obispo, Contra Costa, Lake, Monterey, Riverside, El Dorado, Sonoma, Solano, Mendocino, Santa Cruz, Marin, Santa Clara, Napa, San Mateo, San Benito, Alameda, San Francisco, Del Norte, Sierra, Placer, Siskiyou, Nevada, Calaveras, Glenn, Stanislaus, Trinity, Mariposa, Shasta, Amador, Fresno, Merced, Tuolumne, Yolo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.