Lepidium sativum
Lepidium ramosissimum
garden cress, garden cress pepperwort, garden pepper-grass, garden pepperweed, garden pepperwort, gardencress pepperweed, pepper cress
branch pepper-grass, clasping-leaf pepper-grass, dull peppergrass, manybranch pepperweed
simple from base, erect, branched distally, (1–)2–8(–10) dm.
simple from base, erect, branched (several) distally, (0.6–)1–5.3(–7.7) dm.
(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.
(soon withered);
not rosulate;
petiole 1–4 cm;
blade oblanceolate or pinnatifid, 2–5 cm × 8–15 mm, margins (of lobes) entire serrate or dentate.
petiolate;
blade similar to basal, usually less divided, rarely undivided, (distal) often linear, bases not auriculate, margins entire.
shortly petiolate or sessile;
blade oblanceolate or (distal) linear, (0.6–)1.2–4.8(–6) cm × 1–8(–10) mm, base attenuate to cuneate, not auriculate, margins dentate, (distal) entire, or, rarely, lobed.
considerably elongated in fruit;
rachis glabrous.
slightly elongated in fruit;
rachis puberulent, trichomes curved, cylindrical to subclavate.
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.
sepals oblong, 0.6–0.9(–1.1) × 0.3–0.4 mm;
petals (absent or rudimentary), white, linear, 0.2–0.8(–1) × 0.05–0.1 mm, claw absent;
stamens 2, median;
filaments 0.6–0.9 mm;
anthers 0.15–0.2 mm.
suberect to ascending, appressed to rachis, straight, (terete or slightly flattened), 1.5–4(–6) × 0.4–0.6 mm, glabrous.
divaricate-ascending to horizontal, straight or recurved, (terete), (1.6–)2–3.8(–5) × 0.2–0.3 mm, usually puberulent adaxially, rarely throughout.
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.
elliptic, 2.2–3.2 × 1.7–2.1mm, apically winged, apical notch 0.1–0.3(–0.4) mm deep;
valves thin, smooth, not veined, glabrous or puberulent at least along margin;
style usually obsolete, rarely to 0.1 mm, included in apical notch.
(reddish brown), ovate-oblong, 2–2.7(–3) × 1–1.5 mm, (3-lobed).
oblong, 1.2–1.6 × 0.8–0.9 mm.
= 16, 32.
= 32, 64.
Lepidium sativum
Lepidium ramosissimum
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.)
As noted by R. C. Rollins (1993, p. 581), the varieties of Lepidium ramosissimum are “weak at best.” They are based largely on the branching habit and, most importantly, on the presence versus absence of trichomes on the fruit valve. In some collections (e.g., Scoggan 4233, GH; Boivin et al., 13221, GH), both puberulent- and glabrous-fruited forms occur. It is almost certain that the same situation exists not only in other populations of this species, but in other North American Lepidium. It is also clear that some populations might consist entirely of one of the two forms, but it is highly unlikely that this variation has any geographical basis. Therefore, we believe that the separation of varieties solely on the basis of presence or absence of the fruit trichomes is taxonomically meaningless.
We are reluctantly including Lepidium divergens in the synonymy of L. ramosissimum because we have not seen its type; the topotypes that we studied have broadly obovate to suborbicular fruits that appear more at home in the L. densiflorum or L. virginicum complexes.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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