Lepidium chalepenseL.

lenspod whitetop

WFO wfo-0000358289 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 4 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 4 times, so some figures below are different views of the same plant, taken on the same day, rather than different individuals. They are usually different parts of it: the leaf, the flower, the bark.

Lepidium chalepense, photographed by Tim Messick
fig. a Tim Messick, CC BY 4.0 / 2019-06-01 / obs. 42360253
Lepidium chalepense, photographed by Matt Lavin
fig. b Matt Lavin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 180150719
Lepidium chalepense, photographed by Leah Gardner
fig. c Leah Gardner, CC0 1.0 / obs. 94771706
Lepidium chalepense, photographed by Adam J. Searcy
fig. d Adam J. Searcy, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 200919810
Lepidium chalepense, photographed by Leah Gardner
fig. e Leah Gardner, CC0 1.0 / obs. 94771513
Lepidium chalepense, photographed by Matt Lavin
fig. f Matt Lavin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 180150724
Lepidium chalepense, photographed by Leah Gardner
fig. g Leah Gardner, CC0 1.0 / obs. 94771678
Lepidium chalepense, photographed by Tim Messick
fig. h Tim Messick, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 42360260

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 17 botanical countries

Regions where Lepidium chalepense is native: Afghanistan, China North-Central, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Lebanon-Syria, Tadzhikistan, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Xinjiang, Pakistan, West Himalaya, South European Russia AfghanistanChina North-CentralIranIraqKazakhstanKirgizstanLebanon-SyriaTadzhikistanTibetTranscaucasusTürkiyeTurkmenistanUzbekistanXinjiangPakistanWest HimalayaSouth European Russia
Native distribution of Lepidium chalepense, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
China North-Central CHN
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Kazakhstan KAZ
Kirgizstan KGZ
Lebanon-Syria LBS
Tadzhikistan TZK
Tibet CHT
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Turkmenistan TKM
Uzbekistan UZB
Xinjiang CHX
Pakistan PAK ASIA-TROPICAL
West Himalaya WHM
South European Russia RUS EUROPE

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 18 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Cardaria chalepensis Hand.-Mazz.
  • Cardaria draba subsp. chalepensis (L.) O.E.Schulz
  • Cardaria draba var. repens (Schrenk) O.E.Schulz
  • Cardaria fenestrata (Boiss.) Rollins
  • Cardaria macrocarpa (Franch.) Rollins
  • Cardaria repens (Schrenk) Jarm.
  • Cardaria repens (Schrenk.) Jarm.
  • Hymenophysa fenestrata Boiss.
  • Hymenophysa macrocarpa Franch.
  • Hymenophysa persica Gilli
  • Lepidium draba subsp. chalepensis (L.) Thell.
  • Lepidium draba var. chalepensis L.
  • Lepidium repens Boiss.
  • Nasturtium chalepense Crantz
  • Nasturtium propinquum (Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) Kuntze
  • Nasturtium repens Kuntze
  • Physolepidion repens Schrenk
  • Thlaspi chalepense Poir.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. USDA PLANTS Database. common name, checklist symbol CACH42. public domain. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.