Lepidium oxycarpum

Forked pepperweed

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: annual · Native

Forked pepperweed is a California native annual found in the Central Valley and Central Western bioregions in fields, vernal pool margins, and alkaline flats at elevations below 400 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces small white flowers in elongated clusters. Growing with erect to decumbent stems 4 to 15 centimeters tall, it branches several times from the base and has delicate, linear leaves. Its basal leaves are early-deciduous, measuring 1.5 to 5 centimeters long with 2 to 5 pairs of narrow linear lobes. The fruit is a distinctive winged ovate pod, 2.4 to 3.6 millimeters long with a V-shaped notch at the tip.

Habitat: Fields, vernal pool margins, alkaline flats

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: < 400 m

Bioregions: GV, CW.

California counties: Alameda, Fresno, Marin, San Benito, Sonoma, Santa Clara, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Monterey, Orange, Napa, Solano, Yolo, Merced, Stanislaus, Humboldt, Kern

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