Lepidium affine Ledebour; L. latifolium subsp. affine (Ledebour) Kitagawa; L. latifolium var. affine (Ledebour) C. A. Meyer; L. latifolium subsp. sibiricum Thellung; L. sibiricum Schweigger (1812), not Pallas (1776).

Herbs perennial, (20-)35-120(-150) cm tall. Stems erect, many branched above, slightly woody at base, glabrous or pubescent, often glaucous. Leaves leathery; petiole of basal and lower cauline leaves 1-7(-11) cm; leaf blade elliptic-ovate or oblong, (2-)3.5-15(-25) × (0.5-)1.5-5(-8) cm, glabrous or pubescent with usually curved trichomes, base attenuate, margin usually serrate, apex obtuse to subacute. Upper cauline leaves subsessile or sessile; leaf blade elliptic-ovate, oblong, or lanceolate, 1-9 × 0.3-4.5 cm, base cuneate, not auriculate, margin serrate or entire, apex acute. Infructescence paniculate, ultimate branches subcapitate. Fruiting pedicels slender, 2-5(-6) mm, glabrous or rarely pubescent. Sepals deciduous, oblong or suborbicular, 1-1.4 × 0.8-0.9 mm, glabrous or pubescent, white at margin and apex. Petals white, obovate, 1.8-2.5 × (0.8-)1-1.3 mm, apex rounded; claw 0.7-1 mm. Stamens 6; filaments 0.9-1.4 mm; anthers ovate, 0.4-0.5 mm. Fruit oblong-elliptic, ovate-elliptic, or suborbicular, (1.6-)1.8-2.4(-2.7) × 1.3-1.8 mm, pubescent or glabrous, not carinate, wingless, base rounded; apical notch absent or obsolete; style obsolete. Seeds light brown, oblong-ovate, (0.8-)1-1.3 × 0.7-0.9 mm, compressed, wingless, finely papillate; cotyledons incumbent. Fl. May-Sep, fr. Jun-Oct. 2n = 24.

The above first record from Sichuan is based on Martin s.n., 30 May 1890 (LE). Forms with subsessile leaves and pubescent fruit are recognized as Lepidium latifolium subsp. or var. latifolium, whereas those with sessile leaves and glabrous fruit have variously been recognized as L. affine, L. latifolium var. affine, and L. latifolium subsp. sibiricum. However, such distinction is artificial, as plants with glabrous and pubescent fruit are often found in the same population.

The seeds are used in Gansu and N Shaanxi for medicine.

Fields, roadsides, slopes, saline meadows; 100-4300 m. Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizang [Afghanistan, India, Kashmir, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan; N Africa, SW Asia, S Europe].