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Focus on a Species
Number 51 --
April 7, 2008
In this feature (formerly the Species of the Week) of the Wildwood Web we took a close look
at one of the species that lives in Wildwood. To see the earlier featured species check the Species
Focus archives.
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Cutleaf Toothwort
Dentaria laciniata
Toothwort is a spring ephemeral, a plant
that grows, flowers, and fruits in the spring when the woods are
full of sunshine before the trees leaf out. Once the trees
shade them out they vanish underground until the next spring.
Toothwort has a one-side cluster of white or purplish flowers with
four petals which only partially open, giving the flower a bell-like
appearance. The plant has both basal leaves, that is leaves
that come up directly from the roots, and cauline leaves, leaves on
the flowering stem. Usually the basal leaves appear very early
in spring and die by the time the flowers appear. The cauline,
or stem leaves come in a whorl a little above the middle of the
stem. Usually there are three, but sometimes two or four, and
sometimes they may not be in a whorl at all, but single. Each
cauline and basal leave is deeply divided into three leaflets, and
each side leaflet is then divided into two, making the leaf appear
five-parted. Each section of the leaflet can have a smooth
edge, or more commonly can have large teeth, as in the picture.
The plant produces slender, string-bean shaped fruits, called
siliques, about an inch long, each with a slender beak at one end.
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I used to think that the "tooth" in the name came from the obvious
teeth on the leaves. However, the name comes from the root,
which has tooth-like projections. The "wort" in the name is an
old English word for "plant." The genus name Dentaria
comes from the Latin dens, meaning tooth (think "dental") and
referring again to the projections on the roots. The species
name laciniata comes from laciniate, a technical botanical
term for the way the leaves are so deeply cut. Cutleaf toothwort
is an ephemeral of rich moist woods from Quebec to Minnesota, south
to Florida, Alabama, Arkansas and Kansas. It likes rocky
places, particularly in limestone regions. In Wildwood it can
be found on the western slope of the Park, often near rocks, and
accompanied by other spring ephemerals like
spring beauty and
Dutchman's
breeches.
Toothwort is in the Brassicaceae or Mustard Family. The
slender fruits or siliques are characteristic of this family.
Also characteristic of the family is flowers with four petals
opposite each other, forming a cross, as seen in the closeup below. An older name for the
family is the Cruciferae, literally "cross-forming."
Toothwort, however, is unusual in that the flowers appear
bell-shaped because they never completely open. |
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Many members of
the Brassicaceae are edible, including radishes, mustard, cabbage
and kale. Like radishes, toothwort has edible roots.
Supposedly they taste of watercress, with a peppery spicy taste.
As they are so beautiful and ephemeral, I prefer to admire and protect the toothworts along Wildwood's trails, while
eating radishes from my garden.
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