E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Lepidium virginicum L.
tall pepper-grass (Virginia pepperweed)
Brassicaceae (Mustard family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Jamie Fenneman  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #6948)

E-Flora BC Static Map
Distribution of Lepidium virginicum
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Species Information

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General:
Annual herb from a slender taproot; stems erect, 15-60 cm tall, simple below, freely branched above, hairy to nearly glabrous.
Leaves:
Basal leaves egg-shaped, pinnately cut or merely toothed, 2-15 cm long, 0.5-5 cm wide, usually lacking at anthesis; stem leaves gradually reduced upwards, entire or rarely toothed.
Flowers:
Racemes numerous, elongate, many-flowered; flower stalks spreading, 2-6 mm long, round in cross section to somewhat flattened, glabrous to finely short-hairy; petals white, 1-3 mm long, conspicuous, as long as or slightly longer than the sepals; sepals about 1 mm long, glabrous or slightly soft-hairy.
Fruits:
Silicles, orbicular to nearly round, 2.5-4 mm long, scarcely margined, shallowly notched (to 0.2 mm), usually glabrous; beaks short, well included within the notch.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Mesic to dry disturbed areas and waste places in the lowland zone; infrequent in SW BC, known from S Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and the adjacent mainland; S to OK, TX, NM, AZ and CA.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Lepidium virginicum

The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)

Site Information
Value / Class

Minimum

Average

Maximum

Elevation (metres) 800 913 1060
Slope Gradient (%) 0 24 55
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]
60 180 298
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
2 3 6
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
C
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:
8
Modal BEC Zone Class
IDF
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: BG(1), IDF(5), PP(2)

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References