Lepidium nanum

dwarf pepperweed
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Brassicales
Family: Brassicaceae
Genus: Lepidium
Species: L. nanum
Binomial name
Lepidium nanum
S.Wats.
Synonyms
  • Nasturtium nanum (S. Watson) Kuntze

Lepidium nanum, the dwarf pepperweed, is a plant species native to the US states of Nevada and Utah. It is known from four counties in Nevada (Nye, Elko, White Pine and Eureka) but only one in Utah (Tooele County). It occurs in open, sunlit areas in the desert, often with gypsum, limestone, quartzite or chalky soils.[1][2]

Lepidium nanum is a perennial herb with a woody caudex, forming mound-shaped mats on the surface of the ground. Basal leaves are obovate, up to 2.0 inches (5 cm) long. There aer no leaves on the stems above ground level. Flowers are yellow to creamy white, born on a raceme of up to 7 flowers. Fruits are egg-shaped, often with wings at the tips.[1][3][4]

References

  1. 1 2 Flora of North America v 7 p 587.
  2. BONAP (Biiota of North America Project) floristic synthesis, Lepidium nanum
  3. Watson, Sereno. 1871. United States Geological Expolration [sic] of the Fortieth Parallel. Vol. 5, Botany 30–31, pl. 4, f. 5–7
  4. Holmgren, N. H., P. K. Holmgren & A.J. Cronquist. 2005. Vascular plants of the intermountain west, U.S.A., subclass Dilleniidae. 2(B): 1–488. In A.J. Cronquist, A. H. Holmgren, N. H. Holmgren, J. L. Reveal & P. K. Holmgren (eds.) Intermountain Flora. Hafner Pub. Co., New York.
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