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

Lepidium didymum
lesser swinecress
Brassicaceae (Mustard family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Distribution of Lepidium didymum
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Species Information

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Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

General:
Annual herb from a taproot; stems many-branched, prostrate to decumbent, 20-50 cm long; glabrous to scurfy-hairy or lightly stiff-hairy.

Leaves:
Basal leaves few; stem leaves many, egg-shaped-oblong, very deeply pinnately lobed, 1.5-3 cm long, the lobes narrow, entire to toothed or dissected, stalked below, becoming shortly-stalked above.

Flowers:
In numerous axillary racemes; flower stalks slender, 1.5-2.5 mm long; petals white, linear, 0.5 mm long; sepals deciduous, about 0.5 mm long.

Fruits:
Silicles, inflated, wrinkled, about 2 mm wide, 1.5 mm long.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Mesic fields and waste places in the lowland zone; infrequent in SW BC, known only from SE Vancouver Island and Vancouver; introduced from S America.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Status Information

Origin Status	Provincial Status	BC List (Red Blue List)	COSEWIC
Exotic	SNA	Exotic	Not Listed

BC Ministry of Environment: BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer, the authoritative source for conservation information in British Columbia.

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Coronopus didymus (L.) Sm.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Flora North America treatment for Brassicaceae
Genetic information (NCBI Taxonomy Database)
International Plant Names Index
Taxonomic Information from the World Flora Online
Integrated Taxonomic Information System

Additional Range and Status Information Links

Burke Museum of Natural History (Washington State records)
CalFlora
Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria records
Jepson Interchange
NatureServe Explorer

Additional Photo Sources

Images From CalPhoto
UT Austin's Native Plant Database
Google Image Search
Flickr Image Search

General References

Google Scholar Search
Family References
General Botanical References for BC

Recommended citation: Author, Date. Page title. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2020. E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. [Accessed: 2024-05-09 12:16:45 PM ]

Disclaimer: The information contained in the E-Flora atlas pages is derived from expert sources as cited in each section. This information is scientifically based. E-Flora also acts as a portal to other sites via deep links. As always, users should refer to the original sources for complete information. E-Flora BC is not responsible for the accuracy or completeness of the original information.