2. Cardamine concatenata (Michx.) O. Schwarz (cut-leaved toothwort)

Dentaria laciniata Muhl. ex Willd.

Plants perennial herbs with elongate rhizomes consisting of thickened, beadlike, tuberous portions connected by thinner, threadlike portions. Stems 15–40(–55) cm long, glabrous toward the base, usually somewhat pubescent with spreading hairs toward the tip. Basal leaves usually absent on flowering plants, 13–30 cm long, long-petiolate, the leaf blades trifoliate, the central leaflet sometimes divided or lobed into 3 divisions, the lateral leaflets sometimes unevenly 2(3)-lobed; the leaflets 2.5–10.0 cm long, linear to oblanceolate or lanceolate, glabrous or sometimes with minute, spreading, marginal hairs, the margins sharply and usually coarsely toothed to irregularly incised, rarely nearly entire. Stem leaves (2)3, in a single whorl, 4–12 cm long, short-petiolate, linear to oblanceolate or lanceolate, glabrous or sometimes with minute, spreading, marginal hairs, the margins sharply and usually coarsely toothed to irregularly incised, rarely nearly entire. Sepals (4–)5–10 mm long, green, sometimes pinkish-tinged, the margins usually pale. Petals (8–)10–20 mm long, white to light pink. Styles (4–)5–8 mm long. Fruits 20–40 mm long. Seeds 1.9–2.7 mm long, broadly oblong to ovate in outline, the surface with a netlike or honeycomb-like pattern of ridges and pits, orange to greenish orange. 2n=128, 240, 256. March–May.

Common nearly throughout Missouri, possibly in every county (eastern U.S. and adjacent Canada west to Minnesota and Oklahoma). Mesic bottomland and upland forests, occasionally on drier slopes.

Toothwort is a conspicuous member of the herbaceous spring flora in rich woodlands of valleys and moist ravines. The segmented, spicy rhizomes are sometimes eaten raw in salads or dried and ground as a horseradish substitute.