Lepidium subulatum L.

Species

Family: CRUCIFERAE (BRASSICACEAE)

Genus: Lepidium

Spanish common name: Mastuerzo de yesar.

Province distribution: Alacant. Lleida.

General distribution (Phytogeography): Southwestern Mediterranean

Plants protected by law: País Valencià Catalogue.

IUCN Category: NENot evaluated

Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Life-forms: Chameophyte.

Habitats: Gypsicolous shrubland. Quercus coccifera and Rhamnus oleoides continental maquis. Pine wood and shrubland with rosemary and thyme garigue. Dry, sunny inland shrublands (thyme scrub) on gypsum

Characteristics: Small perennial shrub, about 10-40 cm tall, glaucous. Stems woody, branched, with short hairs at the base. Leaves narrowly linear (less than 1 mm wide) and sharp-pointed. Flowers small, grouped in dense racemes that elongate as they mature, with white petals slightly longer than the sepals. Fruits small, glabrous, and ovate, with a wing less than 1 mm wide at the top and a central notch. Upon maturity, the fruits open, releasing the seeds and leaving behind the translucent central septum, reminiscent of a miniature magnifying lens