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 a Greek word 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.
Lepidium densiflorum is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common names common pepperweed and prairie peppergrass.
Lepidium flavum is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common name yellow pepperweed. It is native to California, Nevada, and Baja California, where it grows in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts. The species epithet flavum is Latin for yellow and indicates its flower colour.
Lepidium fremontii, the desert pepperweed, is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family which is native to the southwestern United States, where it grows on sandy desert flats and the rocky slopes of nearby hills and mountains. It takes its scientific name from John C. Frémont.
Lepidium jaredii is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common name Jared's pepperweed. It is endemic to California, where it is known from the San Joaquin Valley to just within the central Coast Ranges.
Lepidium latipes is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common name San Diego pepperweed. It is native to California and Baja California, where it grows in alkaline soils in a number of habitat types.
Lepidium montanum is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common names mountain pepperweed, mountain peppergrass, mountain pepperwort, and mountain pepperplant. It is native to western North America from Oregon to Montana to northern Mexico, where it can be found in a number of habitats, often on salty or gravelly soils. There are several varieties, many of which are difficult to distinguish.
Lepidium oxycarpum is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common names forked pepperweed and sharp-fruited pepperweed.
Lepidium perfoliatum is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common names clasping pepperweed and perfoliate pepperwort. It is native to Europe and Asia and it can be found in other parts of the world as an introduced species.
Lepidium dictyotum is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common names alkali pepperweed and alkali pepperwort.
Lepidium oblongum is a widespread North American species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common name veiny pepperweed. It is native to Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and the western and south-central United States. It is present as an introduced species in Hawaii. It can grow in many types of habitat.
Monardella palmeri is a species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name Palmer's monardella.
Pedicularis semibarbata, known by the common name pinewoods lousewort, is a species of flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae.
Phacelia anelsonii is a species of phacelia known by the common name Aven Nelson's phacelia. It is native to the Southwestern United States, where it is known from scattered occurrences in southwestern Utah, southern Nevada, and eastern California. It can be found in scrub and woodland habitat. It is named after the botanist Aven Nelson.
Phacelia californica is a species of phacelia known by the common names California phacelia and California scorpionweed. It is native to coastal northern California and Oregon, where it grows in chaparral, woodland, and coastal bluffs and grassland.
Phacelia egena is a species of phacelia known by the common name Kaweah River phacelia. It is native to much of California, from the Transverse Ranges to the northern mountains and into Oregon; it also occurs in Arizona. It grows in many types of habitat.
Silene serpentinicola is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common name serpentine Indian pink and serpentine catchfly.
Streptanthus diversifolius is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common name variableleaf jewelflower, or varied-leaved jewelflower. It is endemic to California, where it is limited to the Sierra Nevada foothills. It is a resident of woodlands and other foothill habitat. It is an annual herb producing a hairless, waxy stem up to a meter tall. The basal leaves are variable in shape and are often divided into narrow, threadlike segments. Leaves higher on the stem are also variable, having round to lance-shaped blades which clasp the stem at their bases. Flowers occur at intervals along the upper stem, with one or two leaflike bracts at the base of the raceme. Each flower has an urn-shaped calyx of keeled sepals about half a centimeter long and white, yellowish, or purple in color, sometimes with white edging. White, purple-veined petals emerge from the tip. The fruit is a thin, flat, curving silique which may be 8 or 9 centimeters in length.
Streptanthus fenestratus is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common name Tehipite Valley jewelflower.
Calochortus syntrophus is a rare species of flowering plant in the lily family known by the common names Callahan's mariposa lily and clustered mariposa lily. It is endemic to northern California, where it occurs in a remote area north of Montgomery Creek in Shasta County. It has also been spotted in adjacent Tehama County. Its habitat includes open, rocky areas with moist or wet soils in oak woodland territory. It was first discovered in 1993 and its description was published the following year.
