UW Burke Herbarium species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Lepidium didymum

Lepidium virginicum

lesser swinecress, lesser wartcress

tall pepperweed
Habit Low, spreading, glabrous to scurfy-pubescent annual, the stems freely-branched, decumbent, 2-5 dm. long. Sparsely to densely pubescent annual or biennial, the freely-branched stem 1.5-6 dm. tall.
Leaves

Leaves alternate, numerous, ovate-oblong, 1.5-3 cm. long, pinnatifid, the segments narrow, entire to pinnatifid.

Basal leaves from toothed to nearly pinnate, oblanceolate, 5-15 cm. long and 1-5 cm. broad;

cauline leaves gradually reduced upward and often entire.
Flowers

Inflorescence of many-flowered, crowded, axillary, bractless racemes 1-4 cm. long; pedicles slender, 1.5-2.5 mm. long;

sepals 4, spreading, 0.5 mm. long, deciduous;

petals 4, white, linear, minute;

stamens 2.

Inflorescence of numerous, elongate, many-flowered racemes; pedicles slender, terete, longer than the fruits;

sepals 4;

petals 4, white, 1-3 mm. long;

stamens 2;

style lacking.
Fruit(s)

Silicles strongly wrinkled, 2 mm. broad and 1.5 mm. long, cordate and notched, inflated and slightly obcompressed.

Silicles elliptic-rotund to nearly orbicular, 2.5-4 mm. long, strongly obcompressed, glabrous, shallowly notched.

Lepidium didymum

Lepidium virginicum
Flowering time May-July March-June
Habitat Roadsides, gardens and wasteland. Beach strand, grassy balds, grasslands, and other open areas at low elevations.
Distribution
Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, Arizona, and Texas eastward and northward to the Atlantic Coast.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Occurring chiefly west of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east across most of North America to the Atlantic Coast.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Origin Introduced from South America (or possibly Eurasia) Native
Conservation status Not of concern Not of concern
Sibling taxa
L. appelianum, L. campestre, L. chalepense, L. densiflorum, L. dictyotum, L. draba, L. heterophyllum, L. latifolium, L. nitidum, L. oblongum, L. oxycarpum, L. perfoliatum, L. ramosissimum, L. sativum, L. strictum, L. virginicum
L. appelianum, L. campestre, L. chalepense, L. densiflorum, L. dictyotum, L. didymum, L. draba, L. heterophyllum, L. latifolium, L. nitidum, L. oblongum, L. oxycarpum, L. perfoliatum, L. ramosissimum, L. sativum, L. strictum
Subordinate taxa
L. virginicum ssp. menziesii, L. virginicum ssp. virginicum
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the University of Washington's Burke Herbarium.



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in UW Burke Herbarium yet, or it's listed under a synonym.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora, UW Burke Herbarium

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers