Lepidium strictum

Peppergrass

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: annual · Native

Peppergrass is a native annual found in California's Central and South Coast Ranges, North Coast Ranges, and western Sierra Nevada foothills in disturbed areas, woodlands, and slopes at elevations below 1,700 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces tiny white flowers less than 0.5 millimeters wide in crowded clusters. Growing with ascending or prostrate stems 7 to 17 centimeters tall that branch toward the tip, it spreads several stems from its base. Its basal leaves are 1.5 to 5.6 centimeters long with 2-pinnately divided lobes, while mid-stem leaves have pinnately lobed lanceolate segments. The fruit is a flattened, winged oval 2.5 to 3.3 millimeters wide with prominently net-veined surfaces.

Habitat: Uncommon. Disturbed areas, woodland, slopes

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: < 1700 m

Bioregions: CA-FP

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

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