Lepidium heterophyllum

Purpleanther field pepperweed

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Purpleanther field pepperweed is a naturalized perennial found in the Klamath Ranges and Cascade Range in fields, roadsides, and open slopes at elevations of 1,400 to 1,500 meters. Flowering from May to June, this plant produces white flowers with distinctive purple stamens. Growing with erect to ascending stems 10 to 50 centimeters tall, often decumbent at the base and branching near the top, it has a stiff-hairy appearance. Its leaves form a basal rosette of oblanceolate or oblong-elliptic shapes, with mid-stem leaves that are oblong to lanceolate and sometimes sagittate or lobed at the base. The fruit is broadly oblong, 4 to 5.5 millimeters wide with a broadly winged tip.

Habitat: Uncommon. Fields, roadsides, open slopes

Bloom period: May-Jun

Elevation: 1400-1500 m

Bioregions: KR, CaR

California counties: Humboldt, Amador, Marin, Plumas, Lassen, Tehama, Trinity, Alameda

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