BRASSICACEAE

Lepidium bonariense

Argentine Cress

WildflowersExotic

Local Context

The 400th plant added to the Flora of Raptor's View database, found near the inlet of Osprey Dam. It generally favours disturbed grasslands, roadsides, agricultural fields, riverbanks and waste grounds.

Identification

Growth: Upright annual or biennial herb (20–60 cm) growing from a central main root with branching upper stems.
Leaves: Lower leaves deeply divided into narrow, sharply toothed lobes; upper leaves small, narrow, and stalkless.
Flowers: Tiny white to greenish-white flowers arranged in long, dense, upright clusters at branch ends.
Fruit: Small, flattened, round pod-like capsules (3–4 mm) with notched tips, splitting into two seeds.
Texture: Stems and foliage are covered in fine, short white hairs, feeling slightly rough to the touch.

Did You Know?

Although a humble South American weed that hitched a ride across the globe to South Africa, the UK, and Australia via imported wool waste (shoddy) and contaminated commercial birdseed, it belongs to the economically vital Brassicaceae (cabbage) family. This means this scruffy roadside alien shares immediate lineage with kitchen staples like broccoli, cabbage, turnip, and horseradish, as well as the oil-rich crops yielding edible canola and industrial seed oils.

Back to List