Narrow-Leaved Pepperwort, Lepidium ruderale, by the roadside on Croydon Road, Hayes Common, 18 June 2011 |
This one is a Pepperwort, with tiny flowers turning very quickly into typical strings of seed pods. Sue identified this one by the shape of the lower leaves, and told us that being next to a road was a normal habitat for it. In fact when I looked it up on the web I saw that it is sometimes called Roadside Pepperweed.
The "pepper" in its name comes from its taste. Sue brought in some of a related species last week, the Broad-leaved Pepperwort, and I tasted some of that; it was a bit like watercress, quite hot.
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