Broadleaved Pepperweed (EwA Guide to Common Invasive Species in Middlesex County (MA, US) )

Broadleaved Pepperweed

Lepidium latifolium

Summary ⁴

Lepidium latifolium, known by several common names including perennial pepperweed, broadleaved pepperweed, pepperwort, or peppergrass, dittander, dittany, and tall whitetop, is a perennial plant that is a member of the mustard and cabbage family.

Description ⁴

Lepidium latifolium normally grows to 30–100 cm (12–39 in), but may grow as tall as 2 m (6.6 ft). It has numerous woody stems, alternating waxy leaves and clusters of small white flowers. It produces small (1.6 millimeter) fruits which each contain two reddish seeds. It has an extensive root network, known to reach 9 ft (2.7 m) in depth, and constituting 40% of the total biomass of the plant.

Invasiveness ⁵

The plant is most invasive in wetland habitats, including riparian zones; from there it easily spreads to other ecosystems, such as sagebrush. It is perceived as a threat to salt marshes in southern New Hampshire, United States, prompting the Department of Environmental Services and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to look for it in the Hampton–Seabrook Estuary in 2008, where it is thought to have spread. The agencies were recruiting volunteers to help look for and properly remove it from this area. It is also a pest in the Monte Vista and Alamosa National Wildlife Refuges in Colorado and Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, and many other sites.

🚧 Control Methods (EwA Content Development in Progress) ⁶

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Sources and Credits

(c) James Bailey, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by James Bailey, https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/143001476
(c) Dmitriy Bochkov, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Dmitriy Bochkov, https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/142811457
(c) Louisa Dixon, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Louisa Dixon, https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/119595508
(c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lepidium_latifolium
Adapted by Claire O'Neill from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lepidium_latifolium
(c) Claire O'Neill, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

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