Short Description
Narrow-leaved pepperwort can grow up to 30 cm high. When crushed, it smells unpleasant.
The rosette-shaped basal leaves are deeply lobed. The leaves on the stem are smaller, elongated and usually not divided. They grow singly and alternately on the stem.
The stem is upright and usually branched in the upper part. It has very short hairs.
The flowers are tiny, greenish and inconspicuous. They grow together in clusters at the end of the stem or branches. The petals are missing completely.
The fruits are small, almost round little pods.
Features
Narrow-leaved pepperwort
Lepidium ruderale
Unpleasant smell (crushed)
tiny flowers
In the city
It is a thermophilic plant and grows mainly on dry ruderal sites such as railway lines, fallow land and roadsides. It prefers dry, nutrient-rich and firm sand, gravel or clay soils.
Fun Facts
The inconspicuous flowers usually pollinate themselves.
The flowering period is from May to October.
It is a one to two year old plant. This means that a plant lives for one or two years, but flowers only once and dies after the seeds have matured.
It can also spread as a whole by wind drift as a "tumbleweed".
- Endangerment level Germany: not endangered
The leaves can be eaten raw or cooked.
Sources
Habitus, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lepidium_ruderale_kz.jpg
Früchte, Stefan.lefnaer, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lepidium_ruderale_sl10.jpg
Habitus, Stefan.lefnaer, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lepidium_ruderale_sl2.jpg
Kammer, P. M. (2016) Pflanzen einfach bestimmen. Schritt für Schritt einheimische Arten kennenlernen, Bern: Haupt Verlag.
Schauer, T., Caspari, C. & Caspari, S. (2015) Der illustrierte BLV-Pflanzenführer für unterwegs. 1150 Blumen, Gräser, Bäume und Sträucher, München: BLV.
Spohn, M., Golte-Bechtle, M. & Spohn, R. (2015) Was blüht denn da? Stuttgart: Franckh Kosmos Verlag.
Page „Schutt-Kresse“. : Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Date of last revision: 08.01.2018, 22:03 UTC. URL: https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Schutt-Kresse&oldid=172734607 (Accessed: 13.03.2018).