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Pepperweed

Lepidium spp.

Pepperweed was called peppergrass but reason prevailed and since it is not a grass the name was changed. A member of the mustard family the seeds have a sharp taste when bitten. It is a winter annual forming a rosette in the fall and flowering in the spring. A problem in crops such as alfalfa and strawberries. Also widely found in newly seeded lawns. Pepperweed on bottom, penny cress on top.

Photo of Pepperweed

Photo by Dr. John Meade, weed scientist emeritus
Rutgers NJAES Cooperative Extension