Lepidium nitidum

Peppergrass

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: annual · Native

Peppergrass is a California native annual herb found throughout most of California, except the eastern desert, in alkaline soils, meadows, pastures, dry vernal pools, and coastal fields at elevations below 1,000 meters. Flowering from February to March, this plant produces small white flowers less than 3 millimeters long. Growing with erect to decumbent stems 10 to 35 centimeters tall, it often emerges with multiple stems from its base and may occasionally branch toward the top. Its distinctive leaves are pinnately divided, with linear to oblong lobes that are early-deciduous, with basal leaves reaching up to 7 centimeters long. The fruit is round to broadly ovate, flattened with a small wing-like tip, measuring 3 to 5.5 millimeters across.

Habitat: Alkaline soils, meadows, pastures, dry vernal pools, fields, beaches

Bloom period: Feb-Mar

Elevation: < 1000 m

Bioregions: CA (exc e D)

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

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