''Lepidium montanum'' 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 names mountain pepperweed, mountain peppergrass, mountain pepperwort, and mountain pepperplant. It is native to western North America from

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

to northern Mexico, where it can be found in a number of habitats, often on salty or

gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

ly soils. There are several varieties, many of which are difficult to distinguish.

Description

This is a short, spreading, shrublike biennial herb producing a rounded form up to about 40 centimeters tall and greater in width. The leaves near the base of the plant are up to 15 centimeters long and are divided into several toothed lobes; those further up on the stem are shorter and often undivided. The plant flowers abundantly in rounded to cylindrical

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 ...

s a few centimeters wide. Each small flower has white to cream-colored petals about 2 millimeters long and two to six

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s. The fruit is an oval-shaped capsule a few millimeters long.

Varieties

Varieties of the species include: *var. ''alpinum'' - alpine pepperweed, Wasatch pepperwort -

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Utah Division of Wildlife Resources The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is part of the Utah Department of Natural Resources for the state of Utah in the United States. The mission of the Division of Wildlife Resources is to serve the people of Utah as trustee and guardian of t ...

. (1998)
Endemic and Rare Plants of Utah: An Overview of their Distribution and Status
Pg. 75. *var. ''claronense'' - mountain pepperweed, Casto Canyon pepperwort - endemic to Utah *var. ''coloradense'' - endemic to

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

*var. ''neeseae'' - Elizabeth's pepperweed, Neese's pepperwort - endemic to Utah *var. ''nevadense'' - Pueblo Valley peppergrass - native to Oregon and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

Nevada Natural Heritage Program. (2001)
Rare Plant Fact Sheet
.

References

External links

The Jepson eFlora 2013Photo gallery - var. ''cinereum''
montanum Flora of Northwestern Mexico Flora of the Western United States Flora of Baja California Flora of California Flora of Colorado Flora of Utah Flora of the Great Basin Flora of the California desert regions Flora of the Cascade Range Plants described in 1838 {{Brassicales-stub