Lepidium didymum |
Lepidium sativum |
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lesser pepper-grass, lesser swine-cress, lesser wart-cress |
garden cress, garden cress pepperwort, garden pepper-grass, garden pepperweed, garden pepperwort, gardencress pepperweed, pepper cress |
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Habit | Annuals; (fetid); glabrous or pilose. | Annuals; (often glaucous), usually glabrous, rarely sparsely pilose. |
Stems | few to several from base, erect to ascending or decumbent, branched distally, 1–4.5(–7) dm. |
simple from base, erect, branched distally, (1–)2–8(–10) 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). |
(withered by anthesis); not rosulate; petiole 1–4 cm; blade 1- or 2-pinnatifid or pinnatisect (lobes ovate to oblong), 2–8(–10) cm, margins (of lobes) entire or dentate. |
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. |
petiolate; blade similar to basal, usually less divided, rarely undivided, (distal) often linear, bases not auriculate, margins entire. |
Racemes | elongated in fruit; rachis glabrous or pubescent, trichomes straight, cylindrical. |
considerably elongated in fruit; rachis glabrous. |
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 oblong-obovate, 1–1.8 × 0.5–0.8 mm; petals white or lavender, spatulate to obovate, 2–3.5(–4) × 0.7–1.4 mm, claw 1–1.4 mm; stamens 6; filaments (median pairs) 1.5–2 mm, (glabrous); anthers 0.4–0.5 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, appressed to rachis, straight, (terete or slightly flattened), 1.5–4(–6) × 0.4–0.6 mm, glabrous. |
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. |
broadly ovate or ovate-oblong, (4–)5–6.4(–7) × 3–4.5(–5.6) mm, apically broadly winged, apical notch 0.2 0.8 mm deep; valves thin, smooth, not veined, glabrous; style 0.1–0.5(–0.8) mm, usually included in, rarely subequaling, apical notch. |
Seeds | ovate, 1–1.2 × 0.7–0.8 mm. |
(reddish brown), ovate-oblong, 2–2.7(–3) × 1–1.5 mm, (3-lobed). |
2n | = 32. |
= 16, 32. |
Lepidium didymum |
Lepidium sativum |
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Phenology | Flowering Mar–Jul. | Flowering Apr–Aug. |
Habitat | Roadsides, waste areas, lawns, pastures, fields, gardens, disturbed areas | Gardens, old fields, vacant lots, disturbed areas, railroad embankments, waste grounds, roadsides, cultivated areas |
Elevation | 0-1000 m (0-3300 ft) | |
Distribution |
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]
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CT; IA; ID; MA; MD; ME; MI; NH; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; TN; WA; WY; AB; BC; MB; NF; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; Europe; sw Asia; perhaps ne Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in South America (Argentina), Australia]
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Discussion | Lepidium sativum is cultivated as a salad green and is sporadically naturalized, though never as an aggressive weed. It is seldom collected; the above range may be incomplete. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 7, p. 580. | FNA vol. 7, p. 592. |
Parent taxa | Brassicaceae > tribe Lepidieae > Lepidium | Brassicaceae > tribe Lepidieae > Lepidium |
Sibling taxa | ||
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) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 644. (1753) |
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