Rorippa cantoniensis(Lour.) Ohwi

Chinese yellowcress

WFO wfo-0001218467 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 5 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 5 times, so some figures below are different views of the same plant, taken on the same day, rather than different individuals. They are usually different parts of it: the leaf, the flower, the bark.

Rorippa cantoniensis, photographed by Jacy Chen
fig. a Jacy Chen, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-01-12 / obs. 176576810
Rorippa cantoniensis, photographed by 葉子
fig. b 葉子, CC0 1.0 / obs. 178099910
Rorippa cantoniensis, photographed by 葉子
fig. c 葉子, CC0 1.0 / obs. 178100138
Rorippa cantoniensis, photographed by 葉子
fig. d 葉子, CC0 1.0 / obs. 111413018
Rorippa cantoniensis, photographed by Jacy Chen
fig. e Jacy Chen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 176576798
Rorippa cantoniensis, photographed by 葉子
fig. f 葉子, CC0 1.0 / obs. 111413013
Rorippa cantoniensis, photographed by 葉子
fig. g 葉子, CC0 1.0 / obs. 28386113
Rorippa cantoniensis, photographed by 葉子
fig. h 葉子, CC0 1.0 / obs. 28386089

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 11 botanical countries

Regions where Rorippa cantoniensis is native: Amur, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Japan, Khabarovsk, Korea, Manchuria, Primorye, Taiwan, Vietnam AmurChina North-CentralChina South-CentralChina SoutheastJapanKhabarovskManchuriaPrimoryeTaiwanVietnam Korea
Native distribution of Rorippa cantoniensis, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Amur AMU ASIA-TEMPERATE
China North-Central CHN
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
Japan JAP
Khabarovsk KHA
Korea KOR
Manchuria CHM
Primorye PRM
Taiwan TAI
Vietnam VIE ASIA-TROPICAL

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 13 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Cardamine microsperma (DC.) Kuntze
  • Lunaria aegyptiaca Mill.
  • Lunaria cantoniensis Desv.
  • Lunaria ricotia Desv.
  • Nasturtium microspermum DC.
  • Nasturtium microspermum var. macilentum Bunge
  • Nasturtium microspermum var. vegetius Bunge
  • Nasturtium sikokianum Franch. & Sav.
  • Nasturtium sikokianum var. axillare Hayata
  • Ricotia cantoniensis Lour.
  • Rorippa microsperma (DC.) L.H.Bailey
  • Rorippa microsperma (DC.) Vassilcz.
  • Rorippa sikokiana (Franch. & Sav.) Hatus.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.