Lepidium flexicaule
Common names
coastal cress
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Flower colours
Green, White
Detailed description
Decumbent, perennial, fleshy, tap-rooted herb producing 1-8(-many) trailing stems up to 400 mm long. Stems woody near base, square in cross-section, with angles finely denticulate. Basal leaves 30-150 x 10-45 mm. dark green to yellow-green, glabrous, pinnatifid to pinnate, narrow-obovate or narrow-oblong; pinnae in 2-8 pairs, coarsely to bluntly toothed. Stem leaves 10-30 x 3-10 mm, dark green or yellow-green, glabrous or sparsely and minute hairy, narrow- or broadly-obovate, spathulate, to linear-lanceolate, toothed or crenate at apex, cuneate or abruptly narrowed at base, margins finely papillate-denticulate. Racemes leaf-opposed, 10-40 mm, rachis and pedicels glabrous or sparsely hairy. Sepals green, 1 x 0.5 mm, glabrous or sparsely hairy. Petals < sepals, white. Stamens 2. Silicles 3-4 x 2-3 mm, ovate, crowded. Style = notch, free from narrow wing, valves glabrous. Seeds 1-1.5 mm, brown, narrow-ovoid.
Similar taxa
It is most often confused with winter cress Lepidium didymum L. and L. squamatum Forssk. which have similar, though more strongly pungent, foliage and seed capsules, and grow in much the same, though usually more modified habitats. Both differ from L. flexicaule in that their seed capsules are net-veined and/or covered in warty protuberances, and when they split they come away as two entire halves, never splitting by the valves and never leaving behind a replum.
Distribution
Indigenous. In New Zealand known from historic records around Auckland, Coromandel, the firth of Thames, and Wellington. In 2003 it was discovered at one site on the South Taranaki Coast. In the South Island, L. flexicaule is known from Cape Farewell to Greymouth. The species was also gathered on the Chatham Islands in the 1860s. It was rediscovered there, at one site, in 2004. Also present on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is not considered common in Tasmania and it may well be threatened there (A. Buchan pers. comm.).
Habitat
A coastal species usually found in coastal turfs, but also on rock stacks, outcrops, headlands, cliff faces and amongst boulders; often but not always in association with nesting or roosting seabird sites, and seal haul outs.
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2023 | Threatened – Nationally Endangered | Qualifiers: CD, DPT, EF, PD, TO
Threats
Habitat loss through weed encroachment and development, browsing; susceptible to many of the pests and diseases of introduced brassicas, e.g., cabbage white butterfly, aphids, snails, white rust and diamondback moth.
Detailed taxonomy
Genus
Family
Synonyms
Lepidium incisum Banks et Sol. ex Hook.f., Nasturtium neozelandicum Kuntze
Taxonomic notes
Recent collections from the Chatham Islands lack the marginal stem and leaf denticles. Denticles are also decidedly infrequent in Australian material.
Story about rediscovery on the West Coast in Trilepidea Issue 30 (May 2006)
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
Flowering occurs from November to January.
Fruiting
Fruiting from December to March.
Life cycle and dispersal
Mucilaginous seeds are dispersed by attachment and possibly wind and water (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Easy from fresh seed. Can be grown from cuttings but these can be tricky to strike. L. flexicaule forms compact mats and the stems die back to the root stock in winter, resprouting in spring. It is less susceptible to diseases than L. oleraceum Sparrm., or L. banksii Kirk. In cultivation L. flexicaule readily hybridises with L. banksii and L. oleraceum, so it should be planted well away from those species. It does best in a permanently damp, fertile soil, in full sun.
Other information
Plant of the Month
This plant has been featured as a Plant of the Month – see Trilepidea: NZPCN newsletter for May 2006 for the full story.
Etymology
lepidium: Scale-shaped (pods)
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.
LEPFLE
Previous conservation statuses
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | Threatened – Nationally Endangered | Qualifiers: CD, EF, TO
2012 | Threatened – Nationally Endangered | Qualifiers: CD, EF, TO
2009 | Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable | Qualifiers: CD, EF
2004 | Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable
Regional conservation statuses
Auckland: 2025 | Regionally Data Deficient | Qualifiers: DPR, TO, TL
The regional threat classification system leverages off the national assessments in the NZTCS, providing information relevant for the regional context. Auckland conservation status information is sourced from the “Conservation status of vascular plant species in Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland” Simpkins E et al. (2025) report.
Referencing and citations
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.
Thorsen, M. J.; Dickinson, K. J. M.; Seddon, P. J. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 11: 285-309
Attribution
Fact Sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange 25 August 2008. Description subsequently published in de Lange et al. (2013).
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Lepidium flexicaule Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/lepidium-flexicaule/ (Date website was queried)