Lepidium flavum

Yellow pepper grass

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: annual · Native

Yellow pepper grass is a California native annual found in the eastern Sierra Nevada desert regions, including sagebrush scrub and sandy or alkaline soils at elevations of 600 to 1,600 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces small yellow flowers with spoon-shaped petals about 2 to 3 millimeters long. Growing prostrate or decumbent with spreading stems 20 to 40 centimeters tall, it has a branched base and delicate structure. Its distinctive leaves form a basal rosette with spoon-shaped to oblanceolate blades 1.3 to 5.2 centimeters long, often pinnately lobed with small ovate segments. The fruits are flattened, nearly round, with divergent-winged tips measuring 2.5 to 3.8 millimeters wide.

Habitat: Alkaline or sandy soils, sagebrush scrub, mesas, floodplains, washes, roadsides

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: 600-1600 m

Bioregions: SNE, D

California counties: San Bernardino, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Mono, San Diego, Riverside

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.