Swine-cress

Swine-cress - Lepidium coronopus

Alternative names
Swinecress, Coronopus squamatus
Description

Low to short prostrate plant. Leaves mostly 1 to 2 pinnately lobed dark green and strap like. Flowers small, white 2 to 3 mm in short crowded racemes. Fruit kidney shaped, net veined.

Similar Species

Lepidium didymum

Identification difficulty
ID checklist (your specimen should have all of these features)

Small plant, all leaves pinnate; not scented; with petals longer than sepals and 6 fertile stamens; fruit-stalks shorter than fruit

Recording advice

General photo of plant in habitat; close up of flowers and fruit

Habitat

Waste ground, pathways and trampled ground, particularly field gateways.

When to see it

June to September.

Life History

Annual or biennial.

UK Status

Frequent throughout much of Britain, but mainly coastal in the North.

VC55 Status

Frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 272 of the 617 tetrads.

In the current Checklist (Jeeves, 2011) it is listed as Alien (archaeophyte), occasional

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020

UK Map

Additional images

No additional images available for this species.

All NatureSpot records

Photo of the association

Perofascia lepidii

This is a water mould (also known as downy mildew) which appears as a powdery white coating on various Lepidium species causing the stems and inflorescences to become swollen or distorted.