[1] The name Cardamine is derived from the Greek kardaminē, water cress, from kardamon, pepper grass.

[clarification needed] The radially symmetrical flowers grow in a racemose many-flowered inflorescence or in corymbs.

[citation needed] The genus Cardamine was first formally named in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus in his Species Plantarum.

[3] As of August 2024[update], there are 264 accepted species in Kew's Plants of the World Online database.

Select species include:[1] This plant[clarification needed] is also used as one of the main food sources for the butterfly Pieris oleracea.