TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL (1993) |
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©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California
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Annual to subshrub
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 1many 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 80:686699; 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 3:265300]
Native L. oxycarpum Torr. & A. Gray
Annual, ephemeral
Stem erect to spreading, 11.5 dm, branched generally from base, slender; hairs spreading or 0
Leaves linear or with linear segments; basal 26 cm, simple, entire to pinnately lobed or divided, hairs sparse or 0; cauline generally linear, entire
Flower: sepals ± 0.51 mm; petals 0 or ± 0.51 mm, white; stamens generally 4
Fruit 2.53.5 mm wide, ovate, glabrous; valve tips generally acute, ascending, notch V-shaped; pedicel ascending to ± recurved, ± 2.5 mm, = or > fruit, flat, narrowly wing-margined; style 0
Ecology: Fields, vernal pool margins, alkaline flats
Elevation: < 600 m.
Bioregional distribution: Great Central Valley, Central Western California
Distribution outside California: probably alien in British Columbia
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