Plants of
South Australia
Lepidium papillosum
Brassicaceae
Warty Peppercress
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
Least concern
Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
Endangered
Critically endangered
Extinct
Data deficient
Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
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Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 3

Common names

Warty Peppercress

Etymology

Lepidium from the Greek 'lepis' meaning a scale; referring to the appearance of the fruits. Papillosum means covered with nipples or minute lobes; referring to the bladder-like hairs on the stems and fruits.

Distribution and status

Found mainly in the east central part of South Australia, growing on heavy soils near lakes, rivers and streams in semi-arid areas. Also found in Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. Native. Common in South Australia. Uncommon in Western Australia, Queensland and Victoria. Common in New South Wales.
Herbarium regions: Lake Eyre, Gairdner-Torrens, Flinders Ranges, Eastern, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Erect ephemeral or annual herb to 30 cm high, mature plants often purplish, stems covered with white, inflated, bladder-like hairs. Basal leaves linear-cuneate, to 10 cm long, toothed to bipinnate lobed, stem leaves becoming smaller, finally sessile, broadly toothed. Inflorescence an elongating spike with tiny white flowers, petals absent. Flowering between June and September. Fruits are red-brown ellipsoid pod to 6 mm long and 5 mm wide, with scattered needle-like hairs, winged in the upper half forming an open notch about one-fifth of the length of the fruit. Seeds are orange-brown reinform seed to 1.5 mm long and 0.9 mm wide, with fine tuberculated surface. Seed embryo type is bent.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between August and November. Collect maturing pods those turning pale brown with hard seeds inside. Be gentle with the pods as they split open easily. Place the pods in a tray and cover with paper to prevent seeds from popping out and leave to dry for a week. Then rub the dried pods gently by hand to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place.

Seeds stored:
  Hide
LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)		Number
of plants		Date
collected		Collection number
Collection location		Date
stored		% ViabilityStorage
temperature
 
MSB
18,000 (5.12 g)		10025-Sep-2008DJD1138
Lake Eyre		95%
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.
We acknowledge the contributions of the South Australian Seed Conservation Centre, the Botanic Gardens of South Australia, and the Department for Environment and Water.