Lepidium pinnatifidum

Featherleaf pepperweed

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Featherleaf pepperweed is a naturalized annual found in coastal California regions including the central and southern coast, typically growing in disturbed areas at elevations below 200 meters. Flowering from May to June, this plant produces small white flowers on elongated panicles with delicate linear petals. Growing with erect, many-branched stems 20 to 60 centimeters tall that are puberulent, it develops distinctive foliage with basal leaves that are dentate to pinnately lobed and quickly deciduous. Its mid-stem leaves are narrowly oblanceolate to linear, 1 to 3.3 centimeters long, with entire edges and tapered bases. The small round fruits are 1.8 to 2 millimeters wide, with sparsely soft-hairy valves and a subtle notch at the tip.

Habitat: Disturbed areas

Bloom period: May-Jun

Elevation: < 200 m

Bioregions: CCo, SCo

California counties: Fresno, Los Angeles, Monterey, Orange, Riverside, Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, Butte, Marin, Merced, San Mateo, Kings, Tulare, San Benito, Yolo, Glenn, Santa Clara, Imperial, Madera, San Joaquin, San Diego, Alameda, Contra Costa, Siskiyou, Santa Cruz

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