Lepidium solandri

Detailed description

Perennial dioecious herb, with up to 24 compact, leafy rosettes. Rootstock deep rooted, up to 28 mm diam. near crown; stems spreading to erect, up to 60 mm long, 10.0 mm wide. Basal and lower stem leaves persistent, pinnatifid, pinnate, to bipinnatifid, narrow-oblong to oblong, up to 100 mm long, green, green-brown, or brown, central part of lamina 0.7–6.2 mm wide; pinnae in 14–32 pairs, linear, obovate or broadly oblong, with up to 5 secondary pinnae, terminal pinnae 3.0–16.0 × 1.0–4.9 mm, lateral pinnae 2.6–11.3 x 0.8–3.9 mm. Middle stem leaves similar, often becoming shallowly pinnatifid, serrate, or entire. Cauline leaves 2.5–19.8 × 1.2–9.8 mm, with up to 3 serrations or small lobes, or entire. Inflorescences terminal, 1.5–16.0 cm long, 0.8–3.7 mm diameter at base, usually spreading to ascending, with up to 12 lateral branches, glabrous to sparsely hairy; pedicels 2.5– 6.5 mm long, 0.2–0.35 mm wide, slightly recurved, adaxial surface glabrous to moderately hairy, abaxial surface glabrous to rarely sparsely hairy. Flowers up to 4 mm wide. Sepals 0.7–1.3 × 0.7–1.6 mm, green to maroon, sparsely to moderately hairy, rarely glabrous, margins scarious, apex obtuse. Petals usually absent, rarely present and then clawed, white, limb obovate, apex emarginate; males: 1.3–1.5 mm long; females: 0.8–1.1 mm long. Female flowers: ovary 1.0–2.4 × 1.1–1.8 mm, usually orbicular to rhomboid, sometimes ovate, sparsely to moderately hairy, rarely glabrous; style up to 0.1–0.4 mm long; stigma 0.3–0.4 mm wide; 3–7 staminodes, 0.8–1.4 mm long, rarely with malformed anthers to 0.3 mm long. Male flowers: 4–6 stamens, 1.5–2.8 mm long, white; anthers 0.3–0.6 mm long, white or maroon; ovary rudimentary, 0.2–1.1 x 0.3–1.3 mm. Nectaries 0.25–0.5 mm long, green, green-red, to red, oblong. Siliques 3.1–5.0 x 2.3–3.8 mm, usually orbicular to rhomboid, sometimes ovate, suture usually maroon, apex emarginate to retuse, style base often persistent. Seed usually obovate, rarely obovateoblong, straighter along one margin, compressed but with broad rounded margins, 1.7–2.5 mm long, not winged; both surfaces with a distinct groove from hilum at base towards apex, and the seed folded around it; apex broad and rounded; base cuneate or slightly rounded. Testa dull, orange or orange-brown to dark henna, with a fine reticulum of very thickwalled cells.