| Author | Rollins | |
| Distribution | Highly restricted to creeksides in Stokes County, and formerly in Forsyth County.
This has one of the most restricted global range of any species found in NC, as it is known only in Stokes County and in adjacent Patrick County, VA. | |
| Abundance | Uncommon along the Dan River and some tributaries, but absent elsewhere in the state. This is a Federal and State Endangered species. Despite its tiny range, it occurs in enough small populations in these two counties that it has a Global Rank of G2 instead of G1. | |
| Habitat | This species has a very limited habitat within Stokes County. It occurs in linear fashion, on sand and gravel bars along creeks, rarely in swampy woods nearby or in seepages over rocks. | |
| Phenology | Blooms in April and May, and fruits from May to June. | |
| Identification | This species is slender and mostly erect, growing to about 1 foot tall. It is often branched from the base. It has a handful of alternate stem leaves, each being simple and undivided into segments, somewhat rounded but with irregular margins, about 2/3-inch long, though occasionally the lower and middle ones can have 1-2 pairs of very small side lobes. The flower cluster at the end of a branch has a few flowers, in bloom at the same time, with 4 white petals. The spread flower is rather small, about 1/3-inch across or long. The most similar species is C. rotundifolia, which is mat-forming with mostly trailing stems. It has much larger flowers (usually more than 1/2-inch across), plus the middle and upper stem leaves are cordate and often clasping around the stem. To see C. micranthera in NC, you will have to travel to Stokes County and poke around some creeksides, though nearly all lands along these creeks or the Dan River within its range are in private ownership. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | None
| |
| Other Common Name(s) | Streambank Bittercress | |
| State Rank | S1 | |
| Global Rank | G2 | |
| State Status | E | |
| US Status | LE | |
| USACE-agcp | | |
| USACE-emp | OBL link |
