TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL (1993) |
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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. virginicum L.
Annual; hairs 0 to dense
Stem erect; branches above, generally 0 below
Leaves: basal 515 cm, obovate, ± pinnately lobed to dissected; upper cauline reduced, entire, rarely dentate
Flower: sepals ± 1 mm, hairs 0 or few, on lower surface; petals 12(3) mm, obovate, white; stamens 2(4)
Fruit 2.54 mm, ± round, glabrous; notch shallow, generally > style; pedicel = or > fruit, slender, cylindric to flat, puberulent or hairs large, generally 0 on lower surface
Seed: embryonic root generally at back of 1 cotyledon
Ecology: Dry, generally open areas
Elevation: < 2400 m.
Bioregional distribution: California (except High Sierra Nevada)
Distribution outside California: widespread N.America
9 vars. total, difficult.
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