Ontario
Weeds: Field peppergrass
Table of Contents
- Name
- Other Names
- Family
- General Description
- Stems and Roots
- Leaves
- Flowers and Fruit
- Habitat
- Similar Species
- Related Links
Name: Field pepper-grass, Lepidium
campestre (L.) R.Br.,
Other Names: pepperweed, lépidie
des champs, passerage des champs
Family: Mustard Family (Cruciferae)
General Description: Annual or biennial,
reproducing only by seed.
Photos and Pictures
Field peppergrass. A. Young plant. B. Base of flowering
plant. C. Raceme of seedpods.
Stems & Roots: 10-50cm (4-20in.)
high, branched near the top, short hairy.
Leaves: Leaves of basal rosette long-stalked,
and varying from without teeth or lobes to deeply lobed along each
side; stem leaves alternate (1 per node), stalkless, short, wavy-margined,
with arrowhead-shaped bases that clasp the stem; stems and leaves
somewhat rough in texture due to a covering of very short hair.
Flowers & Fruit: Flowers individually
very small but forming dense, whitish, small clusters at the tips
of the stems and branches; seedpods numerous and closely spaced along
each branch, standing straight out from the stem on short stalks about
4-8mm (1/6-1/3in.) long; the pods flattened, oblong, 5-6mm (1/5-¼in.)
long, mostly held horizontally and with the tip slightly upturned,
winged towards the outer end and with a small terminal notch in which
the tiny style persists as a wee spine; seeds 2 per pod, 1 on each
side of the septum (membranous partition); septum only as wide as
the fruit is thick. Flowers from May to July.
Habitat: Field pepper-grass is common
in pastures, roadsides, edges of woods and waste areas throughout
southern Ontario; only rarely found in cultivated fields.
Similar Species: It is distinguished from
Common pepper-grass by the clasping bases of the stem leaves, and
the seed-pods being larger with distinct wings and an upcurved tip.
Related Links
... on general Weed
topics
... on weed identification, order OMAFRA Publication 505: Ontario Weeds
... on weed control, order OMAFRA Publication 75: Guide To Weed Control
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