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garden cress, garden cress pepperwort, garden pepper-grass, garden pepperweed, garden pepperwort, gardencress pepperweed, pepper cress

Habit Annuals; (often glaucous), usually glabrous, rarely sparsely pilose.
Stems

simple from base, erect, branched distally, (1–)2–8(–10) dm.

Basal leaves

(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

petiolate;

blade similar to basal, usually less divided, rarely undivided, (distal) often linear, bases not auriculate, margins entire.

Racemes

considerably elongated in fruit;

rachis glabrous.

Flowers

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

suberect to ascending, appressed to rachis, straight, (terete or slightly flattened), 1.5–4(–6) × 0.4–0.6 mm, glabrous.

Fruits

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

(reddish brown), ovate-oblong, 2–2.7(–3) × 1–1.5 mm, (3-lobed).

2n

= 16, 32.

Lepidium sativum

Phenology Flowering Apr–Aug.
Habitat Gardens, old fields, vacant lots, disturbed areas, railroad embankments, waste grounds, roadsides, cultivated areas
Distribution
from FNA
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]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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.)

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 592.
Parent taxa 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. 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. nanum, L. nitidum, L. oblongum, L. ostleri, L. oxycarpum, L. papilliferum, L. paysonii, L. perfoliatum, L. pinnatifidum, L. ramosissimum, L. ruderale, L. sordidum, L. strictum, L. thurberi, L. tiehmii, L. virginicum
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 644. (1753)
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