Plant Image
Plant with fruit capsules


Yavapai County Native & Naturalized Plants

Lepidium densiflorum - common pepperweed

Synonyms: Lepidium elongatum, L. neglectum, L. pubecarpum, L. ramosum, L. texanum
Other Common Names: tall pepperweed, bigseed pepperweed, babyseed pepperweed, miner's pepperweed
Plant Form: Forb or Subshrub

Family: Brassicaceae


   
 
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Flowers and fruit
Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA)
Plant
Paul Rothrock @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Fruit
Kirstin Phillips @ @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Attribution-Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC)
Forb Plant Description

Origin: Introduced   Life Cycle: Biennial or annual
General Desc: Slender taproots; stems erect, usually solitary and simple at the base, branching distally; herbage hairy with soft hairs to hairless; plants with pungent, watery sap; flowers white, very small on long narrow stems at branch tips.
Identification notes: Diffusely branched annual; leaves lance-like, narrowest at base, upper leaves attached directly to stems; flower stems erect, not flattened, hairs soft if present; flowers small, white, petals shorter than sepals; stamens 2; small round flat seed pods.
Height: 1/2 to 1-1/2 feet


Habitat

Habitat Description: Waste places, disturbed sites, prairies, fields, pastures, grasslands, chaparral, meadows, sagebrush flats, floodplains, gravelly hillsides, rock crevices, seashores, sandy places, open mesas, and roadsides.
Plant Communities: Desert Scrub, Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Riparian, Disturbed Areas
Elevation: Below 8000 feet


Flower Characteristics

Color: White     Shape: Regular in elongated clusters     Tubular: N     Flowering Period: Apr - Aug
Description: Very small and inconspicuous in elongated clusters at branch tips; 4 oblong sepals, 1/16 to 1/4 inch long; 4 simple petals, forming a cross, less than 1/16 inch long; petals sometimes absent.


Leaf and Stem Characteristics

Leaf Color: Green     Leaf Type: Simple     Leaf Shape: Narrow     Leaf Margin: Toothed     Leaf Attachment: Basal and alternate     Leaves Clasp: N
Hairs: Leaves and stems     Spines: N
Leaf Description: Basal leaves 1-1/2 to 2-3/4 inches long, sparse short hairs, wither early; alternate stem leaves, shorter than basal leaves, less than 1/16 wide, linear or narrowly reverse lance-shaped; tips sharply pointed; all leaves more or less toothed or divided.


Fruit and Seed Characteristics

Fruit Color: Brown   
Fruit Notes: Flattened, egg-shaped to circular, about 1/16 to 1/8 inch long and 1/16 to 1/8 inch wide, with a shallow notch style (upward extension of the ovary) that remains attached at the tip.
Seed Notes: Oval 1/16 inch long.



  Arizona Cooperative Extension
Yavapai County
840 Rodeo Dr #C
Prescott, AZ 86305
(928) 445-6590
Version 8.0  
http://cales.arizona.edu/yavapaiplants/SpeciesDetailForb.php  
Last Updated: Dec 13, 2022
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