American Bittercress (Cardamine rotundifolia): Quercus Score 39 in North Carolina

39

Good

Quercus Score for North Carolina · 5 of 5 factor datasets used; missing records do not prove absence (genus-level)

Native. The Cardamine genus feeds 2 caterpillar species in NC, draws 12 bee species in the Southeast, including 1 pollen-specialist bee species that depend on it,; 1 bird species have recorded feeding interactions with this genus in North America. Strong for specialist bees. Adjusted -8 because this species is less common in NC than others in its genus.

Rare in NC: buy nursery-propagated plants only

Insect resources, birds and habitat

Bars show recorded counts on a linear scale. Each category runs from zero to its largest count in this NC plant catalog; the same scale applies across plant pages. Compare plants within a category, not bar lengths across categories. Zero records may mean missing research. Growth form is shown as text.

Caterpillars

2 spp. on genus (NC)
Scale: 0–496

Bees

12 spp. on genus (Southeast)
Scale: 0–176

Specialists

1 specialist bee spp. (East)
Scale: 0–45

Birds

1 recorded bird spp. (N. America)
Scale: 0–58

Structure

Forb/herb

Soil

not yet scored

Additional insect evidence

Bar length follows recorded-name count on the displayed scale, not ecological importance. Unknown is not zero support. Flower visits do not confirm feeding or pollination. Named insects may include historical or unresolved names.

Ants

unknown: no matched records
Scale: 0–20

Beetles

unknown: no matched records
Scale: 0–12

Flies

unknown: no matched records
Scale: 0–74

Adult butterflies / moths

unknown: no matched records
Scale: 0–15

Other wasps

unknown: no matched records
Scale: 0–75

Other insects

unknown: no matched records
Scale: 0–5

Provisional additional insect credit: +0 (maximum 5). Scoring rule and limitations. Study references and interaction records are included in this plant’s data record.

Fit for your county

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Overwintering: no reviewed hardiness guidance loaded. Heat tolerance is not assessed.

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How Fit works · Agent packet

NC status (state rank)	S2 · SR-P
Grows in	wet ground only (wetland occurrence proxy: OBL; not a measured watering requirement)
Soil pH range	no data
Light	shade to part sun (genus estimate: all 3 Cardamine species with light data agree (coarse))
Recorded in NC	Mountains; recorded in 3 counties (USDA)
Single-host caterpillars on genus	0
How the number was set	Base score 47, adjusted -8 for how common the species is in NC. Scoring uses relative ranks; display bars show counts. Caterpillar, bee and bird data are by genus.

Sources

Machine-readable: cardamine-rotundifolia.json. Cite as: Quercus Score v0.6.4, Cardamine rotundifolia, North Carolina, 2026-09-24.