Lepidium virginicum L.

• Authority

  Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

• Family

  Brassicaceae

• Scientific Name

  Lepidium virginicum L.

• Description

  Species Description - Erect annual or biennial 1–5 dm; basal lvs oblanceolate, sharply toothed to pinnatifid or even bipinnatifid; upper lvs smaller, oblanceolate to linear, dentate to entire, acute, narrowed to the base; racemes numerous, to 1 dm; pet equaling to twice as long as the sep; stamens 2; fr broadly elliptic to orbicular, widest at or below the middle, 2.5–4 × 2–3.5 mm, narrowly winged across the tip; style included in the notch; 2n=32. Dry or moist soil, fields, gardens, roadsides, and waste places; Nf. to Fla., w. to the Pacific states. Our plants, with accumbent cotyledons, are var. virginicum.

• Common Names

  poor-man's pepper