''Lepidium didymum'', the lesser swine-cress, is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the family

Brassicaceae Brassicaceae () or (the older) Cruciferae () is a medium-sized and economically important family of flowering plants commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family. Most are herbaceous plants, while some are shrubs. The le ...

Description

''Lepidium didymum'' is an annual or biennial herb with decumbent or ascending and glabrous green stems, up to long, radiating from a central position. The leaves are pinnate and alternate, and can reach a length of . It blooms between July and September. The flowers are inconspicuous, the four white petals very short or absent, with 2 (rarely 4), stamens and the fruits consist of two rounded valves, notched at the apex, with a very short style between.Gaby H. Schmelzer, Gabriella Harriet Schmelzer and Ameenah Gurib-Fakim (Editors) They are also wrinkled and contain orange or reddish brown seeds, that are 1–5 mm long.

Taxonomy

It was first described and published by the Swedish botanist

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

in 'Mant. Pl.' (Mantissa Plantarum) on page 92 in 1767. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''didymum'', refers to the Greek word δίδυμα for 'twin' or 'in pairs', referring to the seed capsule.

Distribution

''Lepidium didymum'' is of uncertain origin, but is often cited as native to South America, mainly

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. It has been introduced elsewhere as a weed of cultivation. It has naturalised across the globe, from Africa, Europe, Asia, Australasia, North America and South America. In Britain, it had been recorded from the wild by 1778, chiefly in England and the south of Ireland, growing on cultivated and waste ground, in gardens and lawns, by paths and roadsides.

Uses

The leaves of this plant are

edible An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from "eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushroo ...

, and have a salty, cress or mustard flavour.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q149609 didymum Plants described in 1767 Flora of South America