Perennial herb. Stems prostrate to decumbent, 10- 25(-40) cm long, finely puberulent with short papillate or tapered hairs. Leaves fleshy, dull green. Basal and lower cauline leaves withering at fruiting, glabrous above, with papillae or denticles along midrib beneath and margins, pinnatifid, obovate to oblanceolate, 5-7 × 1.5-2.5 cm; pinnae in 1-3 pairs, bluntly toothed or crenate at apex and distal margins. Cauline leaves obovate, oblanceolate, or spathulate, bluntly toothed to crenate distally, cuneate at base, 10-25(-30) × 5-10 mm, with triangular denticles dense on margins and sparse to dense beneath, glabrous above. Racemes 15-40(-50) mm long, terminal and leaf-opposed; rachis and pedicels puberulent with short tapering hairs, or glabrous; pedicels erecto-patent, 3-4 mm long at fruiting. Flowers c. 2 mm diameter. Sepals glabrous or sparsely hairy, green with scarious margins, c. 1 × 1 mm. Petals white, about equalling sepals, erect, not clawed, narrow-obovate to narrow-oblong, entire and rounded at apex. Stamens 2. Nectaries 4, very small; nectar slight. Siliques broadly elliptic to broadly ovate, (3.2-)3.5-3.8 × 2.2-2.5(-2.8) mm; style 0.1- 0.2 mm long, free from the narrow rounded wing, shorter than the notch; stigma 0.3 mm diam.; valves glabrous. Seed broadly obovoid, brown, not winged, 1.6-2 mm, mucilaginous when wet. FL Oct-Jan, FR Dec-Apr.

Perennial herb. Stems ascending to erect, 15-30(-45) cm long, glabrous. Leaves glabrous, fleshy, bright grass-green. Basal and lower stem leaves withering at fruiting, pinnatifid, narrow-oblong to narrow-oblanceolate, 6-12 × 1.5-2.5 cm; pinnae in 3-7 pairs, sharply toothed at apex and distal margins. Middle stem leaves similar, or becoming shallowly pinnatifid, sharply serrate. Upper stem leaves narrow-obovate to linear-oblanceolate, pinnatifid to simple, sharply toothed at apex and at apex of pinnae if present, cuneate at base, 10-30(-50) × 2-6(-10) mm. Racemes 30-70(-100) mm long, terminal and axillary; rachis glabrous or sparsely hairy; pedicels sparsely hairy, erecto-patent, 3-5 mm long at fruiting. Flowers c. 3 mm diameter. Sepals glabrous or sparsely hairy, often some glabrous and some hairy within one flower, green with scarious margins, c. 1 × 1 mm. Petals white, slightly longer than sepals, spreading, clawed; limb obovate, emarginate. Stamens 4, equal. Nectaries 4, subulate, c. 0.25 mm long; nectar copious. Siliques* broadly elliptic, 2.8- 4.0 × 2.3-3.2 mm; style 0.1-0.2 mm long, free from the narrow wing, equal or exceeding the shallow notch; stigma 0.4 mm diam.; valves glabrous. Seed obovoid, orange-brown, not winged, 1.7-2 mm long, mucilaginous when wet. FL Oct-Mar, FR Nov-Apr. *We use the term silique in preference to silicle since the distinction between the two terms is artificial.

A Lepidio oleraceo foliis pinnatifidis, siliquis emarginatis; a L. flexicauli caulibus glabris, ascendentibus vel suberectis, dentibus foliorum acutis, margine laminae glabro, petalis unguiculatis, limbo petali patenti, emarginato, staminibus quattuor differt.