Lepidium fremontii (Desert Alyssum, Desert Peppergrass)

3/25/05 Hwy. 178 east of Salsberry Pass, 

Death Valley National Park, Inyo County, CA

3/25/05 Hwy. 178 east of Salsberry Pass, 
Death Valley National Park, Inyo County, CA

4/3/17 Ricardo Campground, Red Rock Canyon State Park, Kern County, CA

LIFE LIST NOTES:

COMMON NAME: Desert Alyssum, Desert Peppergrass

SPECIES: Lepidium fremontii

FAMILY: Brassicaceae (Mustard Family)

LIFE LIST DATE: 3/25/2005

LOCATION: Roadside off Hwy. 178 just east of Salsberry Pass, Death Valley National Park, Inyo County, CA 

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Treatment from The Jepson Manual (1993):

Perennial, generally shrubby, 4–10 dm, glabrous, gray

Stem many-branched

Leaves 3–10 cm, linear, generally pinnately lobed; lobes 3–9, 1–3 mm wide; upper 2–3 mm wide, entire or not

Inflorescence many-branched, ± leafy

Flower: petals ± 3 mm, obovate to spoon-shaped, white, claw slender

Fruit 5–8 mm; valves thin; veins faint

Ecology: Sandy washes, barren knolls, gravelly soils, rocky slopes, ridges

Elevation: < 1600 m.  

Bioregional distribution: s East of Sierra Nevada, Desert 

Distribution outside California: to s Utah, w Arizona