Common Pepperweed

Lepidium densiflorum

Found in prairies, glades, disturbed areas. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

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Not native

Not native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 59%

Height: 6–20 inches
Light: Full sun
Soil moisture: Dry to moist

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At a glance

Life cycle: Annual or biennial

Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves · Bloom

Bloom: recorded only in the FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team) phone app (app page).

Spread and leaves: no source found yet.

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 14 Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 2

Barrens grassland after a prescribed fire. Shown: Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, a neighboring state.Barrens native plants returning after prescribed fire, September 2020, NPS Photo / Rick Olson, September 2020. Public domain. Source record.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

10CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Lepidium

Anthocharis mideaFalcate Orangetip
Chlorochlamys chloroleucariaBlackberry Looper Moth
Euchloe olympiaOlympia Marble, Rosy Marble
Eustixia pupulaSpotted Peppergrass Moth
Feltia subterraneaSubterranean Dart, Granulate Cutworm
Plutella porrectellaDame's Violet Moth, Dame's Rocket Moth
Pontia protodiceCheckered White
Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformisEvergreen Bagworm Moth
Xanthorhoe labradorensisLabrador Carpet, Packard’s Carpet

Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)

—BeesSoutheastern regional records

—Specialist beesPollen specialists

5BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Lepidium

Callipepla californicaCalifornia Quail
Centrocercus urophasianusGreater Sage-Grouse
Columbina passerinaCommon Ground Dove
Perdix perdixGray Partridge
Zenaida macrouraMourning Dove

Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family: Brassicaceae
Flower color: Green

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Growing sources and scope

Flower color · “Green” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Height · “6–20 inches” · Minnesota Wildflowers
Life cycle · “Annual or biennial” · Minnesota Wildflowers
Light · “Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
primary_flower_color · “green” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Soil · “Dry; Moist (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia

Also known as

Common Peppergrass

Conservation status

Virginia rank	SNA
Global rank	G5
VA status	Not verified
Federal status	Not verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

Native alternatives

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