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Lepidium
Also called Peppercresses, Peppergrasses, Pepperworts, Peppergrass, Pepperwort, Peppergrass, Pepperwort, Pepperweeds
Lepidium is a large genus of weedy and edible herbs in the cabbage family, including garden cress, maca and dittander. Grown mainly for its peppery leaves and seeds, and many species are fast, self-seeding weeds.
Lepidium is a genus of plants in the mustard/cabbage family, Brassicaceae. The genus is widely distributed in the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe, and Australia. It includes familiar species such as garden cress, maca, and dittander. General common names include peppercress, peppergrass, pepperweed, and pepperwort. Some species form tumbleweeds.
The genus name Lepidium is from Greek meaning 'small scale', which is thought to be derived from a folk medicine usage of the plant to treat leprosy, which cause small scales on the skin. Another meaning is related to the small scale-like fruit.
Field pepperweed · Common pepperweed · Maca · Mountain pepperweed · Shining pepperweed · Cook's scurvy grass · Clasping pepperweed · Featherleaf pepperweed · Garden cress · Virginia pepperweed
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Lepidium by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
