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lesser pepper-grass, lesser swine-cress, lesser wart-cress

dwarf pepperweed

Habit Annuals; (fetid); glabrous or pilose. Perennials; (forming pincushion-like, pulvinate mounds, caudex woody, to 1.5 cm diam., buried, much-branched, covered with persistent leaves); puberulent.
Stems

few to several from base, erect to ascending or decumbent, branched distally, 1–4.5(–7) dm.

simple from base (caudex branches), erect to ascending, unbranched distally, 0.05–0.2 dm.

Basal leaves

(soon withered);

not rosulate;

petiole 0.5–4(–6) cm;

blade 1- or 2-pinnatisect, 1–6(–8) cm, margins (of lobes) entire or dentate (sometimes deeply lobed).

rosulate;

petiole undifferentiated;

blade obovate, 2.5–5 cm × 15–25(–35) mm, margins entire, (ciliolate), apex deeply 3-lobed (lobes ovate to suborbicular, margins entire).

Cauline leaves

shortly petiolate to subsessile;

blade similar to basal, smaller and less divided distally, lobes lanceolate to oblong or elliptic, 1.5–3.5(–4.5) cm ×5–12 mm, base not auriculate, margins (of lobes) entire, serrate, or incised.

absent.

Racemes

elongated in fruit;

rachis glabrous or pubescent, trichomes straight, cylindrical.

slightly elongated in fruit, (2–7-fruited);

rachis puberulent, trichomes straight, cylindrical.

Flowers

sepals (tardily deciduous), ovate, 0.5–0.7(–0.9) mm;

petals white, elliptic to linear, 0.4–0.5 × ca. 0.1 mm, claw absent;

stamens 2, median;

filaments 0.3–0.6 mm;

anthers 0.1–0.2 mm.

sepals (tardily deciduous), obovate, 1.3–4 × 0.8–1.1 mm;

petals pale yellow or creamy white, spatulate, 1.8–2.9 × 0.8–1.2 mm, claw 0.8–1.1 mm;

stamens 6;

filaments 1.4–2 mm, (glabrous);

anthers 1.4–2 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

divaricate to horizontal, straight slightly recurved, (terete), 1.4–2.5(–4) × 0.15–2 mm, glabrous or sparsely pubescent adaxially.

suberect to ascending, often straight, (terete), 2–4.5 × 0.2–0.3 mm, puberulent throughout.

Fruits

schizocarpic, didymous, 1.3–1.7 × 2–2.5 mm, apically not winged, apical notch 0.2–0.4 mm deep;

valves thick, rugose, strongly veined, glabrous;

style absent or obsolete, included in apical notch.

ovate, 2–4.2 × 1.5–3 mm, often apically winged, apical notch 0.1–0.2 mm deep;

valves thin, smooth, not veined, glabrous;

style (0.4–)0.6–1(–1.2) mm, exserted beyond apical notch.

Seeds

ovate, 1–1.2 × 0.7–0.8 mm.

oblong, 1–2 × 0.8–1 mm.

2n

= 32.

Lepidium didymum

Lepidium nanum

Phenology Flowering Mar–Jul. Flowering May–Jun.
Habitat Roadsides, waste areas, lawns, pastures, fields, gardens, disturbed areas Gypsum knolls, tufa mounds around hotsprings, quartzite gravel, barren areas with shale and chalky soil, gravelly hillsides, white calcareous soils
Elevation 0-1000 m (0-3300 ft) 1500-2200 m (4900-7200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; AZ; CA; CT; FL; GA; LA; MA; MD; ME; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OH; OR; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; WI; WV; BC; NB; NF; NS; QC; South America [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico (Sinaloa), Central America (Honduras), Europe, Asia, s Africa, Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
NV; UT
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Lepidium nanum is most common in Nevada and is known in Utah from collections in Tooele County.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 580. FNA vol. 7, p. 587.
Parent taxa Brassicaceae > tribe Lepidieae > Lepidium Brassicaceae > tribe Lepidieae > Lepidium
Sibling taxa
L. acutidens, L. alyssoides, L. appelianum, L. austrinum, L. barnebyanum, L. campestre, L. chalepense, L. coronopus, L. crenatum, L. davisii, L. densiflorum, L. dictyotum, L. draba, L. eastwoodiae, L. flavum, L. fremontii, L. heterophyllum, L. huberi, L. integrifolium, L. jaredii, L. lasiocarpum, L. latifolium, L. latipes, L. montanum, L. nanum, L. nitidum, L. oblongum, L. ostleri, L. oxycarpum, L. papilliferum, L. paysonii, L. perfoliatum, L. pinnatifidum, L. ramosissimum, L. ruderale, L. sativum, L. sordidum, L. strictum, L. thurberi, L. tiehmii, L. virginicum
L. acutidens, L. alyssoides, L. appelianum, L. austrinum, L. barnebyanum, L. campestre, L. chalepense, L. coronopus, L. crenatum, L. davisii, L. densiflorum, L. dictyotum, L. didymum, L. draba, L. eastwoodiae, L. flavum, L. fremontii, L. heterophyllum, L. huberi, L. integrifolium, L. jaredii, L. lasiocarpum, L. latifolium, L. latipes, L. montanum, L. nitidum, L. oblongum, L. ostleri, L. oxycarpum, L. papilliferum, L. paysonii, L. perfoliatum, L. pinnatifidum, L. ramosissimum, L. ruderale, L. sativum, L. sordidum, L. strictum, L. thurberi, L. tiehmii, L. virginicum
Synonyms Carara didyma, Coronopus didymus, Senebiera didyma, Senebiera incisa, Senebiera pinnatifida
Name authority Linnaeus: Syst. Nat. ed. 12, 2: 433. (1767): Mant Pl. 1: 92. (1767) S. Watson: Botany (Fortieth Parallel), 30, plate 4, figs. 5–7. (1871)
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