Historical Lore: The root has a peppery taste that the Native Americans relished and is still enjoyed by many people today. Although there are several historical mentions of medical uses for the roots, it's use as a food must have been primary. In Medicinal and other uses of North American Plants you will find mention or the root being pickled, fermented (to make them sweet), boiled and eaten raw with salt.

Similar Species: Other Toothworts include Pepper Root (C. Diphylla) which has two leaves divided into three ovate leaflets and C. Mulitfida which has leaves even more finely "cut".

See the links below this image for other images. (3) © Daniel Reed   E-mail      Image use policy Canon Digital Rebel XT / 350D Camera, Canon EF180mm F/3.5L Macro USM Lens 1/25 Sec. f/5.0 ISO=100 Cedars of Lebanon State Forest, Wilson County, Tennessee, 3/11/2007 OTHER IMAGES These images open in a new window. You may need to resize the window to view the entire image. Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata) - flowers showing organs  © Daniel Reed Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata) - whroled leaves  © Daniel Reed Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata) - rizomes  © Daniel Reed Ads on this page help pay for this site but if you see one that seems inappropriate here such as one that is counter to the pro environmental theme please let me know which Ad and I will block it. Report a Bad Ad

One of the best general guides to wildflowers of the North Eastern and North Central United States. Newcomb's key is an excellent, simple method for identifying plants. Newcomb has drawings for almost every plant mentioned that are excellent aids to identifying the species. Though only the more common plants are covered this is often the first book I pick up when trying to identify a wildflower.

Wildflo wers of Tennessee the Ohio Valley and the Southern Appalachians

This is perhaps the best of many field guides covering this region. Featuring 446 excellent color photographs (located with the text) and mentioning as similar to those illustrated are another 800 or so species for a total coverage of over 1,200 species. The start of each family section includes line drawings of some of the species showing important features. The text includes the usual description, bloom season, range, habitat and additionally includes information such as medical uses and lore and how the species was named. This is the official field guide of the Tennessee Native Plant Society.