Lepidium crassum

Detailed description

Tap-rooted, strongly pungent smelling, perennial herb. Growth habit dense, stems closely placed, up to 0.5m tall, arising from underground woody stems. Stems upright to spreading, stout, short, rigid; mature stems woody, 100–400 × 10–12 mm, often devoid of foliage on middle and lower parts of stems, new stems 50–200 × 4–5 mm, leafy, glabrous. Leaves glabrous, coriaceous, green, undulate, rosette and stem leaves usually withering, variable in size and shape. Leaves of young and vigorous plants and stems: lamina 50–90 × 17–35 mm, broadly elliptic, elliptic to obovate; apex obtuse to truncate, often with up to 3 or 4 teeth; margin singly or doubly crenate, with 15–32 pairs of teeth; teeth up to 3.5 mm deep, sometimes overlapping, often protruding beyond leaf outline; base cuneate, petiole usually distinct; petiole up to 35.0 × 3.0–6.0 mm, channelled. Leaves of mature plants and cauline stems: lamina 15–45 × 6–15 mm, broadly elliptic, elliptic-obovate to obovate-oblong; apex obtuse to truncate, often with up to 3 or 4 teeth; margin singly crenate in upper half, teeth often protruding from leaf outline, with 5–10 pairs of teeth; teeth up to 1.2 mm deep, not overlapping, often protruding beyond leaf outline; base cuneate, sometimes narrowly so, usually tapering to ± distinct petiole; petiole 5–12 × 1.6–2.3 mm, channelled. Inflorescence terminal and lateral, racemose, 15–60 mm long, rachis 0.7–1.2 mm diameter, glabrous; pedicels 4–7 mm long, erecto-patent, glabrous. Flowers 4.0–5.0 mm diameter. Sepals 4, 1.3–1.6 mm long, saccate, overlapping at base, green, apex obtuse, margin white, shape dimorphic; lateral sepals broad, 1.4–1.5 mm diameter, orbicular, abaxial surface often hairy, hairs 0.2–0.5 mm long; median sepals narrow, 1.0–1.3 mm diameter, broadly elliptic, glabrous. Petals white, 1.8–2.0 × 1.0–1.1 mm, spreading, claw 0.6–0.8 mm long; limb broadly elliptic to orbicular, apex obtuse to rounded. Stamens 4; filaments 1.2–1.6 mm long, base 0.4–0.5 mm diameter, equal; anthers 0.4–0.6 mm long. Ovary 1.0–1.6 × 0.9–1.1 mm, broadly ovate to broadly elliptic, green to green-brown, apex round or sometimes weakly shouldered; style 0.15–0.3 mm long, cylindrical; stigma 0.2–0.4 mm diameter. Nectaries 4, 0.2–0.3 × 0.1–0.15 mm, oblong to oblong-triangular, green. Silicles cartilaginous when fresh, coriaceous when dry, 3.0–3.7 × 2.6–3.1 mm, orbicular to orbicular-rhomboid, apex obtuse to shallowly notched, valves pale brown, glabrous, not winged; style 0.2–0.3 mm long, exserted. Seeds 1.6–1.7 × 0.9–1.1 mm, narrowly ovoid, brown to orange-brown, not winged.