''Lepidium latipes'' is a species of flowering plant in the

mustard family 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 ...

known by the common name San Diego pepperweed. It is native to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, where it grows in

alkaline soils Alkali, or Alkaline, soils are clay soils with high pH (greater than 8.5), a poor soil structure and a low infiltration capacity. Often they have a hard calcareous layer at 0.5 to 1 metre depth. Alkali soils owe their unfavorable physico- ...

in a number of habitat types.

Description

''Lepidium latipes'' is an annual herb producing a short, thick, hairy stem generally under tall but sometimes taller. Leaves are linear in shape and several centimeters (inches) long. The plant produces a dense

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

of many tiny, hairy flowers with green petals, their

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s packed between them. The fruit is a cylindrical, oblong capsule about long.

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment of ''Lepidium latipes''''Lepidium latipes'' var. ''latipes'' — U.C. Photo gallery

latipes ''Latipes'' is a genus of air-breathing land slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Veronicellidae, the leatherleaf slugs. Species Species within the genus ''Latipes'' include: * ''Latipes pterocaulis ''Latipes'' i ...

Flora of Baja California Flora of California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the Central Valley (California) Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Natural history of the San Francisco Bay Area Natural history of the Transverse Ranges Plants described in 1836 Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Brassicales-stub