Lepidium coronopus

Seed specimens

Lepidium coronopus is a robust herb, grown as an annual,[2] and rarely as a biennial.[3] It is a low,[4] to short prostrate plant,[5] with often several from base,[6] stems that sprawl,[7] trail or spread,[3] and very rarely ascending.[6] It can reach between 5–12 cm (2.0 in – 4.7 in) tall,[4] with the more or less hairless,[7] and branched distally,[6] stems reaching 5–30 cm (2.0 in – 11.8 in) long.[3][7]

It has two types of leaves, basal and cauline (along the stem),[6] the basal leaves are rosulate (form a rosette), with a petiole (leaf stalk) 2–5 cm (0.79 in – 1.97 in) long.[6] They are pinnatisect (having lobes with incisions that extend almost, or up to midrib),[6][7] the lobes are dark green and strap like.[5][3] The cauline leaves are shortly petiolate,[6] or stalkless,[3] they are also pinnatisect,[6] or more or less unlobed.[7] The leaves are dull blue-green,[7] or greyish green.[4]

Although Swine Cress (Lepidium coronopus) is very similar in form to Lesser Swine Cress (Lepidium didymum) but the leaves of Lesser Swine cress are edible.[8] Other differences between the two plants include; l. didymum has 2 stamens while L. coronopus has 6 and the fruits are very different.[9]

Lepidium coronopus begins blooming between May and August,[6] or between June and September.[4][5] The small flowers,[7] are about 0.2–0.4 cm (0.079 in – 0.157 in) wide.[5][10] They are white,[6][5][4] or purplish,[3] growing in clusters opposite a leaf,[6][4][7] on short racemes.[6][3][5] The rachis is glabrous (hairy).[6] The flowers have 4 petals which are obovate to oblong shaped,[6] that are longer than the sepals,[3][7] which are oblong shaped.[6] It has 6 stamens,[7][9][11] small anthers.[7][6]

After flowering, it produces fruits (or seed capsules). They are small 0.3–0.47 cm (0.12 in – 0.19 in) across,[6][7] reniform (kidney shaped),[5][7] to ovate-cordate shaped.[6] They have a wart-like surface,[4] and irregularly wrinkled,[7] or has pointed bumps.[11] The fruit only contains 1 or 2 seeds,[4] the dirty yellowish,[12] seeds are small,[4] 1.1-1.5 by 1.3-1.7 mm,[6][12] elliptic and flattish,[12] and pear-shaped,[4] or ovate-oblong.[6] They are curved but not winged.[6]

The chemotaxonomy of the plant was completed in 2008.[13] It's chromosome count is 2n = 32.[2]

Illustration from Deutschlands Flora in Abbildungen painted by Johann Georg Sturm in 1796

It has a few common names including 'creeping wart cress',[14] 'warty swine-cress', which is derived from the distinctive fruits,[10] 'crowfoot' (it's leaf shape [15]), 'greater swine cress',[3][16] and 'swine cress'.[5][17] The name 'swine cress' comes from its use as a poor quality salad alternative and thought only suitable for eating by pigs.[4]

It was originally described and published as Cochlearia coronopus by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in his seminal publication 'Species Plantarum' Vol.2 in 1753, on page 648. Later as the Lepidium species was formed, Ihsan Ali Al-Shehbaz then published the plant as Lepidium coronopus in 'Novon' Vol.14 on page 152 in 2004.[1]

The specific epithet coronopus takes its name from the Greek, as found in Theophrastus' treatise on plants (c. 371 – c. 287 BC, Greek philosopher and author). The name in Greek is κορωνοπους, meaning 'crowfoot' (or κορωνηπους ), and revolves around the leaf's shape.[15][18]

Lepidium coronopus is native to temperate areas of Africa, western Asia and Europe.[3][17][19]

It was previously used as an alternative to watercress (in salads), but it was deemed such poor quality and only suitable for pigs to eat.[4] It is thought to be slightly tasting of mustard.[8]

• Leaf-miners on Swine-cress (C. squamatus) is native and Lesser Swine-cress (C. didymus)

Media related to Lepidium coronopus at Wikimedia Commons