Lepidium nitidum (Shining Peppergrass)

3/1/03 Vernal Pool Trail, Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve, 

Riverside County, CA

3/1/03 Vernal Pool Trail, Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve, 
Riverside County, CA

7/8/16 Roadside near pastures off Twin Lakes Road,
Bridgeport, Eastern Sierra, Mono County, CA

7/8/16 Virginia Lakes Rd., Toiyabe National Forest, 
Eastern Sierra, Mono County, CA

LIFE LIST NOTES:

COMMON NAME: Shining Peppergrass

SPECIES: Lepidium nitidum

FAMILY: Brassicaceae (Mustard Family)

LIFE LIST DATE: 3/1/2003

LOCATION: Vernal Pool Trail, Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve, Murrieta, SW Riverside County, CA 

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Treatment from The Jepson Manual (1993):

Annual

Stem erect to spreading, 1–4 dm, slender, puberulent near inflorescence, ± glabrous below; branches 0–many

Leaves: basal 3–10 cm, deeply pinnately divided, segments 6–14, linear, entire to coarsely toothed or lobed; cauline less divided to simple, entire

Flower: sepals ± 1 mm, ovate, hairy or not, not persistent in fruit; petals < 1.5 mm, spoon-shaped, white; stamens generally 6

Fruit 2.5–4(6) mm, ovate-elliptic to ± round, smooth, shiny; notch narrow, 0.2–0.5 mm deep; hairs 0, rarely few, marginal, minute; pedicel ± recurved to ascending, very flat, ± densely puberulent; style 0

Ecology: Alkaline soils, flats, slopes

Elevation: < 1500 m.  

Bioregional distribution: California (except e Desert) 

Distribution outside California: to Oregon, c US