Leaves generally basal and cauline, alternate, generally simple; stipules 0
Inflorescence: generally raceme
Flower bisexual; sepals 4, free; petals (0)4, free, generally white or yellow, often clawed; stamens generally (2,4)6, generally 4 long, 2 short; ovary 1, superior, chambers generally 2, septum membranous, connecting 2 parietal placentas, style 1, stigma simple or 2-lobed
Fruit: generally capsule ("silique") with 2 deciduous valves, sometimes breaking transversely or indehiscent
Seeds 1–many per chamber
Genera in family: 300+ genera, 3000+ species: worldwide, especially cool regions; some cultivated for food (especially Brassica, Raphanus ) and ornamental
Recent taxonomic note: Recently treated to include Capparaceae [Rodman et al. 1993 Ann Missouri Bot Gard 80:686–699; Rollins 1993 Cruciferae of Continental North America. Stanford Univ Press]
Family description, key to genera by Robert A. Price.
LEPIDIUM
PEPPERGRASS, PEPPERWORT
Annual to shrub; hairs 0 or simple
Leaves: basal not rosetted, generally petioled, entire to pinnately lobed; cauline short-petioled to sessile, sometimes clasping or surrounding stem
Flower small; sepals erect or spreading, oblong to ovate, shed early or persistent; petals linear to obovate, generally white, rarely yellowish, sometimes bristle-like or 0; stamens 6, 4, or 2
Fruit dehiscent, oblong to elliptic or obcordate, flat perpendicular to septum; pedicel cylindric or flat, winged or not
Seeds 1 per chamber, gelatinous when wetted; wing narrow or 0; embryonic root at back of 1 cotyledon, rarely at edges of both
Species in genus: ± 175 species: ± worldwide
Etymology: (Greek: little scale, from fruit)
Reference: [Hitchcock 1936 Madroño 3:265–300]
| Native |
L. nitidum Torr. & A. Gray
Annual
Stem erect to spreading, 1–4 dm, slender, puberulent near inflorescence, ± glabrous below; branches 0–many
Leaves: basal 3–10 cm, deeply pinnately divided, segments 6–14, linear, entire to coarsely toothed or lobed; cauline less divided to simple, entire
Flower: sepals ± 1 mm, ovate, hairy or not, not persistent in fruit; petals < 1.5 mm, spoon-shaped, white; stamens generally 6
Fruit 2.5–4(6) mm, ovate-elliptic to ± round, smooth, shiny; notch narrow, 0.2–0.5 mm deep; hairs 0, rarely few, marginal, minute; pedicel ± recurved to ascending, very flat, ± densely puberulent; style 0
Ecology: Alkaline soils, flats, slopes
Elevation: < 1500 m.
Bioregional distribution: California (except e Desert)
Distribution outside California: to Oregon, c US
| Native |
var. nitidum
Stem: hairs 0 to ± dense
Fruit generally glabrous; valves 3.5–6 mm, tips erect or ± ascending, not beak-like
Ecology: Meadows, alkaline flats, vernal pools
Elevation: < 1500 m.
Bioregional distribution: California (except e Desert)
Flowering time: Feb–May
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