Taxon Report

Lepidium latipes Hook. var. heckardii Roll.

Heckard's pepper-grass

Print Report

2018 Jennifer Buck

Taxon Summary

Lepidium latipes var. heckardii, commonly known as Heckard's pepper-grass, is a annual herb in the Brassicaceae that is found only in California. It occurs within Valley and foothill grassland, growing at elevations from 2 to 200 meters. Lepidium latipes var. heckardii is ranked 1B.2, Plants Rare, Threatened or Endangered in California and Elsewhere; Moderately threatened in California.

Classification


Scientific Name:	Lepidium latipes Hook. var. heckardii Roll.
Common Name:	Heckard's pepper-grass
Family:	Brassicaceae
Element Code:	PDBRA1M0K1
USDA Plants Symbol:	LELAH2
Synonyms/Other Names:

Ecology and Life History


Lifeform:	annual herb
Blooming Period: Mar-May	Mar-May
Elevation:	2-200 (5-655)
General Habitats:	Valley and foothill grassland
Microhabitat:
Microhabitat Details:

Conservation Status


CA Rare Plant Rank:	1B.2
Global Rank:	G4T1
State Rank:	S1
State List:	None
Fed List:	None
Other Status:
CRPR Changes:	changed from 1B.2 to 1B.2 on 2013-03-28

Occurrence Data from the CNDDB


Total Occurrences:	14
Element Occurrence Ranks:
Excellent (A)	4
Good (B)	4
Fair (C)	2
Poor (D)	0
None (X)	0
Unknown (U)	4

Location


California Endemic: True
California Counties and Islands: Name (Code)
Glenn (GLE), Merced (MER), Sacramento (SAC), Solano (SOL), Yolo (YOL)
Quads: Name (Quad Code)
Arena (3712036), Clarksburg (3812145), Davis (3812156), Dozier (3812137), Eldorado Bend (3812177), Florin (3812144), Grays Bend (3812166), Liberty Island (3812136), Logandale (3912242), Saxon (3812146), Zamora (3812178)

Threat List Data from the CNDDB


Threat List Total:	4
EOs with Threat Listed:	Total EOs	% of EOs
	5	36 %
Development	2	14%
Grazing	2	14%
Disking	1	7%
Foot traffic/trampling	1	7%

Notes



Many plants from the Woodland area (YOL Co.) are intermediate with L. latipes var. latipes; needs further study. A synonym of L. latipes in TJM 2. See Harvard Papers in Botany 4:47 (1993) for original description.
Threats:

Taxonomy:

Selected References

CRPR List Deletion on 2013-03-28

Citation California Native Plant Society, Rare Plant Program. 2025. Rare Plant Inventory (online edition, v9.5.1). Website https://www.rareplants.cnps.org [accessed 27 October 2025].