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Pepperweeds
Lepidium
Lepidium is a genus of plants in the mustard/cabbage family, Brassicaceae. The genus is widely distributed in the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe, and Australia. It includes familiar species such as garden cress, maca, and dittander. General common names include peppercress, peppergrass, pepperweed, and pepperwort. Some species form tumbleweeds.
The genus name Lepidium is from Greek meaning 'small scale', which is thought to be derived from a folk medicine usage of the plant to treat leprosy, which cause small scales on the skin. Another meaning is related to the small scale-like fruit.
60 branches of this genus, most-observed first
Virginia pepperweed
speciesLepidium virginicum
Heart-podded Hoary Cress
speciesLepidium draba
Lesser swine-cress
speciesLepidium didymum
field peppergrass
speciesLepidium campestre
broadleaved pepperweed
speciesLepidium latifolium
Common Peppergrass
speciesLepidium densiflorum
Narrow-leaved Pepperwort
speciesLepidium ruderale
Shining Pepperweed
speciesLepidium nitidum
clasping pepperweed
speciesLepidium perfoliatum
Hairypod Pepperweed
speciesLepidium lasiocarpum
desert pepperweed
speciesLepidium fremontii
Smith's Cress
speciesLepidium heterophyllum
Southern pepperweed
speciesLepidium austrinum
Mountain Pepperweed
speciesLepidium montanum
Wayside Pepperwort
speciesLepidium bipinnatifidum
African Pepperwort
speciesLepidium africanum
yellow peppercress
speciesLepidium flavum
Argentine Cress
speciesLepidium bonariense
Tall Pepperwort
speciesLepidium graminifolium
Swine Cress
speciesLepidium coronopus
Veiny Pepperweed
speciesLepidium oblongum
Lens-podded Hoary Cress
speciesLepidium chalepense
Upright Pepperweed
speciesLepidium strictum
Thurber's pepperweed
speciesLepidium thurberi
Garden Cress
speciesLepidium sativum
Mesa Pepperwort
speciesLepidium alyssoides
Petal-less Pepperweed
speciesLepidium apetalum
hairy white-top
speciesLepidium appelianum
Lepidium cartilagineum
speciesLepidium cartilagineum
Lepidium subulatum
speciesLepidium subulatum
Mediterranean pepperweed
speciesLepidium hirtum
Branched Pepper-grass
speciesLepidium ramosissimum
Alexandra Cress
speciesLepidium solandri
pincushion pepperwort
speciesLepidium nanum
Lepidium foliosum
speciesLepidium foliosum
San Diego Pepperweed
speciesLepidium latipes
alkali pepperweed
speciesLepidium dictyotum
Lepidium phlebopetalum
speciesLepidium phlebopetalum
net pepper grass
speciesLepidium acutidens
Cook's Scurvy Grass
speciesLepidium oleraceum
Lepidium chichicara
speciesLepidium chichicara
Jared's peppergrass
speciesLepidium jaredii
Shore Cress
speciesLepidium tenuicaule
Coastal Cress
speciesLepidium flexicaule
Lepidium vesicarium
speciesLepidium vesicarium
Lepidium leptopetalum
speciesLepidium leptopetalum
Thick-leaved Scurvy Grass
speciesLepidium crassum
Chatham Islands Scurvy Grass
speciesLepidium rekohuense
Lepidium englerianum
speciesLepidium englerianum
Lepidium pseudotasmanicum
speciesLepidium pseudotasmanicum
Bushy Peppercress
speciesLepidium desvauxii
Lepidium oxytrichum
speciesLepidium oxytrichum
Lepidium meyeri
speciesLepidium meyeri
Kawarau Cress
speciesLepidium sisymbrioides
Wayside pepper grass
speciesLepidium pinnatifidum
Kunana Pepperwort
speciesLepidium bidentatum
Sharp-pod Pepper-grass
speciesLepidium oxycarpum
Eastwood's tall pepperwort
speciesLepidium eastwoodiae
Winged Pepperwort
speciesLepidium monoplocoides
Lepidium auriculatum
speciesLepidium auriculatum
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the old herbals & bestiaries
Notable Commentaries on the History of Plants
Leonhart Fuchs · 1542 · p.518
Book of Herbs
Hieronymus Bock (Tragus) · 1546 · p.103
Notable Commentaries on the History of Plants
Leonhart Fuchs · 1549 · p.516
On the Names of Plants
Hieronymus Bock (Tragus) · 1552 · p.160
Commentaries on the Six Books of Dioscorides
Pietro Andrea Mattioli · 1560 · p.448
Commentaries on the Six Books of Dioscorides
Pietro Andrea Mattioli · 1560 · p.448
History of Plants in Four Books
Valerius Cordus · 1561 · p.269
Commentaries on the Six Books of Pedanius Dioscorides on Medical Matter
Pietro Andrea Mattioli · 1565 · p.781
Commentaries on the Six Books of Pedanius Dioscorides on Medical Matter
Pietro Andrea Mattioli · 1565 · p.780
Stirpium adversaria nova
Matthias de Lobel · 1571 · p.158
Six Groups of the History of Plants
Rembert Dodoens · 1583 · p.724
Six Groups of the History of Plants
Rembert Dodoens · 1583 · p.725
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Lepidium in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 47203.