Lepidium juvencum
Common name
scurvy grass
Synonyms
None (first described in 2013)
Family
Brassicaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
LEPJUV
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2017 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2012 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants.
Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – an interim threat classification status has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
- Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017 . 2018. Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, John W. Barkla, Shannel P. Courtney, Paul D. Champion, Leon R. Perrie, Sarah M. Beadel, Kerry A. Ford, Ilse Breitwieser, Ines Schönberger, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Peter B. Heenan and Kate Ladley. Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | Threatened – Nationally Critical | Qualifiers: CD, DP, RR
Previous conservation status
2012 | Threatened – Nationally Critical | Qualifiers: CD, DP, RR
Brief description
Perennial, strongly aromatic (smelling of cress) herb. Plants with sparse, straggling, sprawling, leafy branches. Leaves dark green, margins serrated apices and bases often drawn out. Inflorescences at branch tips, Flowers white with four stamens. Fruits elliptic-rhomboid to orbicular-rhomboid apices very slightly notched, splitting cleanly into two valves, seeds brown or orange-brown.
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand. South Island (known from a few site near Dunedin and from Stewart island (and possibly adjoining smaller islands)
Detailed description
Tap-rooted, strongly pungent smelling, perennial herb. Growth habit open, straggly, up to 50 cm tall. Stems usually decumbent to sprawling, slender, flexible, sparse; mature stems woody, 100–1000 × 8–12 mm, often devoid of foliage on middle and lower parts of stems; new stems 100–400 × 3–4 mm, leafy, glabrous. Leaves glabrous, subcoriaceous, green, often undulate, rosette and stem leaves usually withering, variable in size and shape. Leaves of young and vigorous plants and stems: lamina 37–87 × 12–32 mm, elliptic, obovate or elliptic-oblanceolate; apex truncate to obtuse, usually with 2–3 prominent teeth and often appearing irregular; margin singly crenate, with 4–19 pairs of teeth; teeth up to 1.5 mm deep, not overlapping; base attenuate to cuneate, tapering to a distinct or indistinct petiole; petiole up to 23.0 × 2.0–5.0 mm, or sessile. Leaves of mature plants and cauline stems: lamina 10–60 × 3–21 mm, elliptic, elliptic-oblanceolate, obovate to elliptic-obovate; apex subacute, truncate or obtuse, usually with 2–3 prominent teeth and often appearing irregular; margin singly crenate in upper and/or lower half, with 4–19 pairs of teeth; teeth up to 1.3 mm deep, not overlapping; base attenuate to cuneate, tapering to distinct or indistinct petiole, or sessile. Inflorescence terminal and lateral, racemose, 10–60 mm long, rachis 1.0–1.3 mm diameter, glabrous; pedicels 4.0–6.0 mm long, erecto-patent, usually glabrous although lower pedicels occasionally sparsely hairy on adaxial surface. Flowers 4.0–5.0 mm diameter. Sepals 4, 1.3–1.5 mm long, saccate, overlapping at base, green, apex obtuse, margin white, shape dimorphic; lateral sepals broad, 1.1–1.5 mm diameter, orbicular, abaxial surface often hairy, hairs 0.1–0.5 mm long; median sepals narrow, 0.9–1.2 mm diameter, broadly elliptic, glabrous. Petals white, 2.0–2.4 × 1.1–1.5 mm, spreading, claw 0.6–1.0 mm long; limb broadly elliptic to orbicular, apex obtuse to rounded. Stamens 4(–5); filaments 1.4–1.7 mm long, base 0.3–0.5 mm diameter, equal; anthers 0.3–0.4 mm long. Ovary 1.0–1.5 × 0.9–1.4 mm, broadly ovate to broadly elliptic, green to green-brown, apex usually with shoulders; style 0.15–0.25 mm long, cylindrical; stigma 0.3–0.5 mm diameter. Nectaries 4, 0.2–0.3 × c. 0.1 mm, oblong-obovate, green. Silicles cartilaginous when fresh, coriaceous when dry, 3.1–4.2 × 2.5–3.5 mm, elliptic-rhomboid to orbicular-rhomboid, valves light brown, glabrous, apex shallowly notched, not winged; style 0.2–0.3 mm long, exserted. Seeds 1.6–1.8 × 0.9–1.3 mm, narrowly ovoid, brown to orange-brown, not winged.
Similar taxa
Lepidium juvencum is distinguished by open, sprawling, straggling growth habit, and the stems are often trailing on the ground. The leaves are elliptic, elliptic-oblanceolate, obovate to elliptic-obovate, and have attenuate bases; the marginal teeth are usually small and are mostly confined to the distal third of the leaf. The silicles are most like L. oleraceum but differ by possessing a rounded, slightly notched apex.
Flowering
November - May
Flower colours
White
Fruiting
November - June
Propagation technique
Easily grown from fresh seed. However prone to a wide range of exotic and indigenous diseases and so can sometimes be difficult to maintain in cultivation.
Threats
Known from one site near Dunedin and from several offshore islands from the Otago Peninsula to Stewart Island. Not common at any site. Historically more wide ranging (as evidenced from herbarium specimens). Most populations are very small (< 10 plants) and one is threatened by trampling.
Etymology
lepidium: Scale-shaped (pods)
Attribution
P.J. de Lange (7 September 2013). Description from de Lange et al. (2013) - see references for free download link for that paper.
References and further reading
de Lange, P.J.; Heenan, P.B.; Houliston, G.; Rolfe, J.R.; Mitchell, A.D. 2013: New Lepidium (Brassicaceae) from New Zealand. Phytokeys 24:1-147pp. , doi: 10.3897/phytokeys.24.4375.
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Lepidium juvencum Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/lepidium-juvencum/ (Date website was queried)