革叶荠属 ge ye ji shu

Herbs perennial, with a woody, unbranched caudex covered with petiolar remains of previous years. Trichomes simple or absent. Stems erect or ascending, simple at base, many branched above. Basal leaves petiolate, rosulate, simple, entire or rarely toothed, leathery, with a single midvein or several, equally thick palmate veins. Cauline leaves petiolate or sessile, few, attenuate, auriculate, sagittate, or amplexicaul at base, entire. Racemes many flowered, ebracteate, corymbose grouped in panicles, elongated in fruit. Fruiting pedicels slender or slightly thickened, ascending or divaricate. Sepals ovate or suborbicular, deciduous, erect or ascending, base of lateral pair not saccate, margin broadly membranous. Petals white, pink, or rarely pale yellow; blade broadly obovate or orbicular, apex rounded or emarginate; claw shorter than sepals. Stamens 6, tetradynamous; filaments not dilated at base; anthers ovate or oblong, obtuse at apex. Nectar glands 6, ovoid or toothlike; median glands 2; lateral ones 4, 1 on each side of lateral stamen. Ovules 2 per ovary. Fruit dehiscent silicles, obovoid, ellipsoid, or rarely oblong, quadrangular-angustiseptate, somewhat inflated, sessile or shortly stipitate; valves often leathery, obscurely veined, glabrous, keeled; replum rounded; septum complete, translucent or opaque, veinless; style obsolete or distinct and to 3 mm; stigma capitate, entire. Seeds wingless, oblong or ellipsoid, plump; seed coat nearly smooth, mucilaginous when wetted; cotyledons incumbent.

About 20 species: primarily in C Asia and Iran; one species in China.

The principal differences used to distinguish Stroganowia from Lepidium are the presence of somewhat 4-angled fruit with thick valves and an unbranched caudex with petiolar remains from previous years. However, these differences can hardly justify the recognition of two genera.