| Cleome serrulata | |
|---|---|
| Rocky Mountain Beeweed | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Brassicales |
| Family: | Cleomaceae |
| Genus: | Cleome |
| Species: | C. serrulata |
| Binomial name | |
| Cleome serrulata Pursh (1814) |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
Peritoma serrulatum DC. |
|
Cleome serrulata (Rocky Mountain Beeweed, Rocky Mountain Beeplant, Bee Spiderflower, stinking clover, Navajo spinach) is a species of Cleome, native to western North America from southern British Columbia, east to Minnesota and Illinois, and south to New Mexico and northernmost California. It is also naturalized further east in North America. [1][2][3]
Contents |
It is an annual plant growing to 10-150 cm (4-60 in) tall, with spirally arranged leaves. The leaves are trifoliate, with three slender leaflets each 1-7 cm (0.4-2.75 in) long. The flowers are reddish-purple, pink, or white, with four petals and six long stamens. The fruit is a capsule 3-6cm (1-2.4 in) long containing several seeds.[1][2]
In 1817, Frederick Traugott Pursh described this species in the first volume of Flora Americae Septentrionalis.[4]
In the first volume of Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis in 1824 Augustin Pyramus de Candolle moved this species into his idea of what the genus Peritoma should be, calling it Peritoma serrulatum.[5]
In 1901, Edward Lee Greene built a genus of Cleome species based on Candolles Peritoma including this species as Peritoma serrulatum DC. and Peritoma lutem Raf. Other species that were included have since been determined to be synonyms of these species.[6]
It is used in the southwestern U.S. as a food, medicine, or dye.[7][8] It is called waa’ in the Navajo language. Its scientific description was based on specimens collected on the Lewis and Clark Expedition.[9]