Lepidium sativum L., Brassicaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: jia du xing cai

English: garden cress, tongue-grass

French: cresson alénois, cresson des jardins, passerage cutivée

Spanish: berro de huerta, cresón, mastuerzo

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Herbs annual, (10-) 20-80 (-100) cm tall. Stems erect, simple or branched, sparsely crisped pilose above. Basal leaves not rosulate; petiole 1-4 cm; leaf blade variable in shape, 1- or 2-pinnatifid or -pinnatisect, 2-8 (-10) x  1-3 (-5) cm; ultimate lobes ovate or oblong, margin dentate, apex acute. Cauline leaves petiolate; leaf blade similar to basal ones but less divided, with 1-4 lateral lobes on each side of midvein; uppermost leaves subsessile, linear, margin entire. Fruiting pedicels suberect, appressed to rachis, or ascending, straight, 1.5-4 (-6) mm, terete or slightly flattened, glabrous. Sepals oblong, 1-1.8 x  0.5-0.8 mm, glabrous or pubescent abaxially. Petals white or lavender, spatulate or obovate, 2.5-3.5 (-4) x  0.7-1.4 mm, base attenuate. Stamens 6; filaments 1.5-2 mm; anthers oblong, 0.4-0.5 mm. Fruit oblong-ovate or elliptic, (4-) 5-6 (-7) x  3-4.5 (-5.5) mm, base rounded, margin and apex broadly winged, apex emarginate; wings 1-1.5 mm at apex; apical notch 0.2-0.5 mm; style 0.2-0.5 (-0.8) mm, free from wings, included in or rarely exserted from apical notch. Seeds reddish brown, oblong, 2-2.6 x  1-1.3 mm, wingless; cotyledons incumbent, 3-lobed"  (Flora of China online).

"Annual with a single, erect stem 20-50 cm, branched in region of inflorescence, glabrous or pilose. Basal leaves lyrate-pinnate, long-petiolate, soon withering. Cauline leaves 1 or 2 x pinnate, less incised than basal, with oblong-linear segments; uppermost, linear, entire. Flowering branches from the lower leaf axils up to the top of stem. Petals white or lilac, 2-3 x 1 mm, oblong-spathulate. Fruiting pedicels ascending, 2-3.5 mm. Siliculae broadly elliptical or orbicular-ovate, 5-6 x 4-5 mm, distinctly emarginate" (Davis, 1965; p. 281).

Habitat/ecology:  Waste and cultivated places (Davis, 1965; p. 281).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Egypt and Ethiopia through the middle east to Pakistan (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Isabela Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Volcán Sierra Negra, Isabela Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 83)
New Caledonia New Caledonia	New Caledonia Islands		Swarbrick, John T. (1997) (p. 93)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive	Tassin, Jacques (2005)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)		Hafliger, Toni J./Wolf, Matthias (1988) (p. 184)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	introduced invasive cultivated	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) "Cultivated or naturalized; near sea level to 1700 m".
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)		Hafliger, Toni J./Wolf, Matthias (1988) (p. 184)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 183)

Additional information:
Additional online information about Lepidium sativum is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Lepidium sativum as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Lepidium sativum may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Davis, P. H./Mill, R. R./Tan, Kit, eds. 1965. Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands. Edinburgh, University Press. 1965-1988, 10 vols.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1979. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian dicotyledonae. Micronesica 15:1-295.

Hafliger, Toni J./Wolf, Matthias. 1988. Dicot weeds, vol. 1. CIBA-GEIGY Ltd., Basle, Switzerland. 335 pp.

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

Swarbrick, John T. 1997. Weeds of the Pacific Islands. Technical paper no. 209. South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 124 pp.

Tassin, Jacques. 2005. Jacques Tassin (IAC-CIRAD), personal communication.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).