[Peppergrasses: The Genus Lepidium in the Columbia River Gorge of Oregon and Washington]

Clasping Peppergrass, Clasping Pepperweed, Clasping Pepperwort, Round-leaved Peppergrass, Yellow-flowered Peppergrass

Lepidium perfoliatum

Synonym: Nasturtium perfoliatum

Clasping pepperweed as seen from Camp Hancock, central Oregon.............May 15, 2010.

Clasping Peppergrass, Clasping Pepperweed, Clasping Pepperwort, Round-leaved Peppergrass, Yellow-flowered Peppergrass: Lepidium perfoliatum (Synonym: Nasturtium perfoliatum)

Photo at right of clasping pepperweed from the road to Blue Sky, Hart Mt. National Antelope Preserve..........June 29, 1997.

Characteristics:

Clasping pepperweed is an easy to identify weed due to the heart-shaped, clasping leaves found on its stems. It is a winter annual or annual, with erect stems branched near the top. The stems range from 20-60 cm in height. The stem has two sets of leaves, with the lower ones dissected (bi- or tri- pinnatifid) and the upper ones heart-shaped with clasping bases.

The flowers are white or yellow in dense racemes. The petals are about 1.5 mm long. The seed capsules are rhombic-ovate silicles about 4 mm long and about 4 mm wide.

Habitat:

Clasping pepperweed is a weedy species of disturbed, open areas such as grain fields, pastures, waste areas, and roadsides

Range:

Although it is a native of Europe, clasping pepperweed has become well established in much of the western United States.

In the Columbia River Gorge, it may be found in the Columbia Hills near 2200'.

Clasping Peppergrass, Clasping Pepperweed, Clasping Pepperwort, Round-leaved Peppergrass, Yellow-flowered Peppergrass: Lepidium perfoliatum (Synonym: Nasturtium perfoliatum)

Clasping pepperweed from the Painted Hills Unit, John Day Fossil Beds N.M.......May 24, 1998.

Paul Slichter