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. fremontii S. Watson
Perennial, generally shrubby, 4–10 dm, glabrous, gray
Stem many-branched
Leaves 3–10 cm, linear, generally pinnately lobed; lobes 3–9, 1–3 mm wide; upper 2–3 mm wide, entire or not
Inflorescence many-branched, ± leafy
Flower: petals ± 3 mm, obovate to spoon-shaped, white, claw slender
Fruit 5–8 mm; valves thin; veins faint
Ecology: Sandy washes, barren knolls, gravelly soils, rocky slopes, ridges
Elevation: < 1600 m.
Bioregional distribution: s East of Sierra Nevada, Desert
Distribution outside California: to s Utah, w Arizona
previous taxon | next taxon
Retrieve Jepson Interchange Index to Plant Names entry for Lepidium fremontii
Retrieve dichotomous key for Lepidium
Overlay Consortium of California Herbaria specimen data by county on this map
Show other taxa with the same California distribution | Read about bioregions
Return to treatment index page
Glossary