Lepidium capitatum Hook. fil. & Thomson

Remarkably distinct from the previous 3 species by its procumbent habit, capitate inflorescence, and similar pinnatifid leaves, present distantly, all over the plant. It appears to be quite common in Ladak and other adjoining areas at higher altitudes.

Annual or biennial, up to 20(-25) cm long, procumbent or suberect, bran¬ched, often spreading, glandular hairy. Lower leaves pinnatifid, 3-6 cm long, 1-2 cm broad, narrowed into a short stalk or sessile, with narrow oblong acute lobes; upper leaves pinnatifid or simply toothed, sessile, smaller, usually not much different from the lower ones. Racemes 20-30 flowered, dense, congested or capitate above, ebracteate, hardly increasing up to 3 cm in fruit. Flowers white, very small, c. 1 mm across; pedicel up to 4 mm long in fruit, filiform, spreading. Sepals c. 1 mm long, 0.5 mm broad. Petals c. as long or slightly shorter than the sepals, obovate-cuneate with emarginate apex. Stamens 4 (outer 2 absent), c. 1 mm long with minute anthers. Siliculae 2.5-3 mm long, c. 2.5 mm broad, ovate, slightly notched at the apex with subsessile stigma not exceeding the notch, gla¬brous, obscurely winged at the apex; septum about 0.5 mm broad; seed c. 1.5 mm long, oblong-ovate, pale brown.

Herbs annual or biennial, (5-)10-35(-50) cm tall, densely covered with capitate or clavate papillate trichomes. Stems prostrate or rarely suberect, branched basally and above. Basal and lower cauline leaves with petioles 0.5-4 cm; leaf blade oblong, spatulate, or lanceolate, (0.5-)1-4(-7) × 0.2-2 cm, usually glabrous, pinnatifid, base attenuate; lobes oblong, lanceolate, or linear, 2-8(-15) × 0.5-3(-5) mm, 1- or 2-pinnatifid or -partite, serrate, or entire. Upper cauline leaves shortly petiolate or subsessile, similar to lowermost leaves, progressively smaller upward. Racemes capitate, elongated slightly or not elongated in fruit. Fruiting pedicels slender, divaricate, slightly recurved or straight, (1-)2-3(-4) mm, puberulent adaxially with clavate or capitate trichomes. Sepals oblong, 0.8-1 × 0.3-0.4(-0.5) mm, glabrous or with crisped trichomes. Petals white, narrowly obovate, (0.5-)0.6-0.9(-1) × 0.2-0.3 mm, base cuneate, apex subtruncate or emarginate. Stamens 4; filaments 0.8-1 mm; anthers ovate, 0.1-0.2 mm. Fruit broadly ovate, 1.8-2.5 × 1.7-1.8 mm, glabrous; wing apical, 0.1-0.3 mm; apical notch 0.05-0.3 mm; style obsolete, rarely to 0.15 mm, included in apical notch. Seeds brown, oblong-ovate, 1-1.1 × 0.6-0.7 mm; cotyledons incumbent. Fl. and fr. Jun-Sep.

Himalaya (Kashmir to Bhutan), Tibet.

Distribution: Endemic to Himalayas: Kashmir, Tibet to Nepal.

Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Kashmir, Nepal, Sikkim].

3600-5300 m

Fl. Per.: May-June.

Mountain slopes, disturbed areas, plains; 2700-5000 m.

Lepidium kunlunshanicum G. L. Zhou & Z. X. An.