Lepidium oxycarpum |
Lepidium eastwoodiae |
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fork pepper-grass, fork pepperweed, fork pepperwort, sharp pod pepper grass, sharp-fruit pepperweed, sharpfruit pepperwort |
mesa pepperwort |
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Habit | Annuals; glabrous or puberulent. | Annuals, biennials, or perennials; (base woody); glabrous or pubescent. |
Stems | several from base, usually erect to ascending, rarely decumbent, branched, 0.4–1.5(–2) dm. |
simple from base, erect, branched distally, (3.5–)4.5–16(–18) dm. |
Basal leaves | (soon withered); not rosulate; petiole 0.5–1.5(–2) cm; blade margins entire or pinnatifid (lobes 2–5 pairs, linear to filiform), 1.5–5 cm × 0.5–2 mm. |
(soon deciduous), not rosulate; petiole (1–)2–5.5(–7.5) cm; blade pinnatifid, (2–)3–6.8(–9) cm × 10–30 mm, margins (of lobes) dentate to serrate. |
Cauline leaves | petiolate; blade linear, 0.1–0.3 cm × 0.5–2 mm, base attenuate, not auriculate, margins entire. |
shortly petiolate or sessile; blade narrowly lanceolate or oblanceolate to linear, 3–7 cm × (2.5–)4–10mm (smaller distally), base attenuate to cuneate, not auriculate, margins usually entire, rarely dentate. |
Racemes | considerably elongated, (lax) in fruit; rachis glabrous or puberulent, trichomes straight, cylindrical. |
elongated in fruit; rachis puberulent, trichomes straight or curved. |
Flowers | sepals oblong, 0.6–0.8 × 0.4–0.5 mm; petals absent; stamens 4, median; filaments 0.6–0.7; anthers ca. 0.1 mm. |
sepals suborbicular to oblong, 0.8–1.5 × 0.7–1.2 mm; petals white, suborbicular, 2.2–3.5(4) × 1.5–2.5 mm, claw 0.7–1.5 mm; stamens 6; filaments 1.5–2.5 mm, (glabrous); anthers 0.3–0.4 mm. |
Fruiting pedicels | divaricate to horizontal or descending, usually recurved, rarely straight, (terete or slightly flattened), 2–4(–6) × 0.2–0.3 mm, glabrous or puberulent adaxially. |
divaricate-ascending to horizontal, usually slightly recurved or somewhat sigmoid, rarely straight, (not winged), (3–)3.5–7.5(–8) × 0.2–0.3 mm, puberulent adaxially. |
Fruit(s) | ovate, 2.4–3.6 × 1.8–2.5 mm, apically winged, apical notch (V-shaped), 0.3–0.8 mm deep; valves thin, smooth, strongly reticulate-veined, glabrous; style obsolete or to 0.1 mm, included in apical notch. |
broadly ovate, 2–3.5(–4) × 1.8–2.6(–3) mm, apically winged, apical notch 0.1–0.2mm deep; valves thin, smooth, not veined, glabrous; style (0.2–)0.3–0.6(–0.7) mm, exserted beyond apical notch. |
Seeds | oblong, 1.4–1.8 × 0.8–0.9 mm. |
(dark brown), ovate, 1.4–1.8 × 0.8–1.1 mm. |
Lepidium oxycarpum |
Lepidium eastwoodiae |
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Phenology | Flowering Mar–May. | Flowering Jul–Sep. |
Habitat | Borders of vernal pools, grassy fields, roadsides ditches, alkaline flats, margins of salt marshes | Pinyon-juniper, sagebrush, or mixed desert shrub communities |
Elevation | 0-400 m (0-1300 ft) | 900-2200 m (3000-7200 ft) |
Distribution |
CA
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AZ; CO; NM; UT
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Discussion | Lepidium oxycarpum apparently did not persist in British Columbia following its introduction there over 110 years ago (G. A. Mulligan 2002b). That record is based on Macoun s.n. (GH, MO, NY, US), which was collected on 31 May 1893 from the vicinity of Victoria, Vancouver Island. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
C. L. Hitchcock (1936) and R. C. Rollins (1993) reduced Lepidium eastwoodiae to a variety of L. montanum and L. alyssoides, respectively. However, the differences in morphology and flowering periods support its recognition as an independent species. We have not examined the holotype of Lepidium moabense and follow N. H. Holmgren (2005b) in reducing it to synonymy of L. eastwoodiae. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 7, p. 589. | FNA vol. 7, p. 581. |
Parent taxa | Brassicaceae > tribe Lepidieae > Lepidium | Brassicaceae > tribe Lepidieae > Lepidium |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Nasturtium oxycarpum | L. alyssoides var. eastwoodiae, L. moabense, L. montanum var. eastwoodiae |
Name authority | Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 116. (1838) | Wooton: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 25: 258. (1898) |
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