Lepidium ramosissimum

Manybranched pepperweed

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: biennial · Native

Manybranched pepperweed is a California native biennial found in southern Gabilan Range and Peninsular Range in roadsides and alkaline soils at elevations below 2,900 meters. Flowering from March to September, this plant produces small white flowers in elongated clusters with petals rarely exceeding one millimeter wide. Growing with erect, many-branched stems reaching 15 to 70 centimeters tall, it develops a puberulent (softly hairy) structure with multiple branches emerging toward the upper portions of the plant. Its leaves show interesting variation, with basal leaves being oblanceolate and pinnately lobed, while mid-stem leaves become shorter and more dentate, and upper stem leaves transform into narrow, entire linear forms. The fruit is a small elliptic structure measuring 2.2 to 3.2 millimeters wide with a subtle wing-like tip.

Habitat: Roadsides, alkaline soils

Bloom period: Mar-Sep

Elevation: < 2900 m

Bioregions: SnGb, PR

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