Lepidium sativum L.
cress
Annual. Stem erect, glabrous, (10)-20-40-(90) cm tall. Basal lvs withering at flowering, glabrous or sparsely hairy, 3-10-(20) × 1-4-(8) cm, 1-2-pinnatifid with slender toothed lobes. Middle stem lvs deeply 1-2-pinnatisect with linear-obovate lobes; uppermost lvs sparsely hairy, 1-pinnatifid, becoming linear-obovate, entire, 2-4 × 0.3-0.5 cm. Racemes 10-25 cm long; pedicels 4-6 mm at fruiting. Sepals sparsely hairy, 1-1.5 × 0.4-0.6 mm. Petals twice as long as sepals, white or reddish. Stamens 6. Silicle elliptic, narrowly winged above, 5-6 × 3-5 mm; style not projecting beyond deep apical notch; valves glabrous. Seeds narrowly ovoid, red-brown, not winged, up to 5 mm long; cotyledons deeply 3-lobed.
N.: Auckland, Hawke's Bay; S.: Marlborough, Canterbury.
Egypt, W. Asia 1864
Casual garden escape and in linen flax crops.
FL Nov-Dec Nov-Feb.
L. sativum is the cress commonly grown as a salad plant. It is distinguished from all other members of the Brassicaceae by its deeply 3-lobed cotyledons.
