Semi-desert. Shrublands, openings. Spring.
McElmo Canyon, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, April 2, 2005.

Above the basal rosette of deeply cut leaves, Lepidium lasiocarpum is thick stemmed and sparsely leaved.  Flowers are minute in a whorled cluster.  This is not a commonly observed plant and its weedy look does not make it so attractive when it is observed, but a close inspection reveals intricate beauty. 

The vertically pointing seeds in the lower left and the more finely cut, fern-like leaves belong to Filaree, Erodium cicutarium.  Leaves of Lepidium lasiocarpum show at the bottom center and bottom right.

"Lasio" "carpum" is Greek for "hairy" "fruited". 

Thomas Nuttall, famed 18th century collector and teacher, collected this species in 1836 and named it in Torrey and Gray's 1838 Flora of North America.  (More biographical information.)

Semi-desert. Shrublands, openings. Spring.
McElmo Canyon, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, April 2, 2005.