Lepidium sativum
Lepidium sativum
Ssp sativum: Tere
Annual with a single, erect stem 20-50 cm, branched in region of inflorescence, glabrous or pilose. Basal leaves lyrate-pinnate, long-petiolate, soon withering. Cauline leaves 1 or 2 x pinnate, less incised than basal, with oblong-linear segments; uppermost, linear, entire. Flowering branches from the lower leaf axils up to the top of stem. Petals white or lilac, 2-3 x 1 mm, oblong-spathulate. Fruiting pedicels ascending, 2-3,5 mm. Siliculae broadly elliptical or orbicularovate, 5-6 x 4-5 mm, distinctly emarginate. A much cultivated species with an uncertain wild distribution. Two easily recognisable subspecies occur in Turkey:
1. Axes of fruiting racemes not ending in a spiny point; pedicels of fruiting racemes c. ½ length of fruit; style not exceeding apical sinus subsp. sativum
1. Axes of fruiting racemes ending in a spiny point; pedicels of fruiting racemes less than ½ length of fruit; style exceeding apical sinus subsp. spinescens
