Lepidium latifolium

Perennial pepperweed, Perennial Pepperweed

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

Perennial pepperweed is a naturalized perennial herb found in California (excluding the Klamath Ranges and Desert regions) in diverse habitats including pastures, disturbed areas, grasslands, saline meadows, streambanks, sagebrush scrub, and pinyon/juniper woodlands at elevations up to 2,500 meters. Flowering from June to September, this plant produces small white flowers in elongated panicles with petals approximately 2 millimeters wide. Growing with erect, branched stems 3.5 to 12 tall and spreading rhizomatous roots, it forms dense patches in disturbed landscapes. Its leaves vary from elliptic-ovate basal leaves to oblong mid-stem leaves, ranging from 3.5 to 15 centimeters long, with leathery textures and entire or slightly serrated edges. The fruit is a small, flat, wingless pod 1.8 to 2.4 millimeters long, produced in spreading clusters along the stem.

Habitat: Pastures, disturbed areas, fields, grassland, saline meadows, streambanks, sagebrush scrub, pinyon/juniper woodland, edge of marshes

Bloom period: Jun-Sep

Elevation: < 2500 m

Bioregions: CA (exc KR, D)

California counties: Placer, San Bernardino, Fresno, Lake, Los Angeles, Monterey, Napa, Riverside, San Diego, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Yolo, San Francisco, Kern, Modoc, Inyo, Sonoma, Lassen, Orange, Solano, Contra Costa, Sacramento, San Luis Obispo, Ventura, Amador, Colusa, San Joaquin, Mono, Plumas, Butte, Marin, Stanislaus, Santa Barbara, Madera, El Dorado, Sierra, Shasta, Tuolumne, Sutter, Glenn, Siskiyou, Alameda, Tehama, Yuba, Alpine, Santa Cruz, San Benito

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