Lepidium iberis

Annual or biennial herbs, fetid, about 10 to 40 cm tall. Rootstocks slender, taproot. Stem erect, ascending, woody, usually simple at the base and diffusely branched above, glabrous or finely pubescent with papillate trichomes. Basal radical leaves simple in rosulate, lanceolate-elliptic.

Inflorescence raceme corymbs, both terminal and axillary, many flowered, considerably elongated in fruit, up to 15 cm long in fruit, glabrous or puberulent with trichomes, ebracteate. Flowers bisexual, cream white, pedicel erect, divaricate, slender, ascending, puberulent, sepals 4, ovate-oblong, petals 4, rudimentary or, linear, base narrowed, margins entire, apex rounded, Seeds brown, slightly compressed or flattened, oblong-ovoid, not winged, smooth minutely reticulate, nicely mucilaginous when soaked, and cotyledons incumbent. Leaves of Lepidium iberis are edible. The plant paste is applied externally in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis to improve joint flexibility and to relieve stiffness and pain. The seeds are used in the treatment of dropsy.