Steve L. O’Kane, Jr.

   Annual to rarely perennial in our flora, ill-smelling herbs. LEAVES stipulate, alternate, palmately compound; leaflets 3 to 7, rarely simple above. INFL a bracteate raceme. FLOWER actinomorphic or zygomorphic by displacement of petals to one side, perfect; sepals 4 free; petals 4, free, ± clawed; stamens typically 6 but up to 20 in Polanisia; pistil 1, 2-carpellate; ovary superior, with a replum (but no false septum as in Brassicaceae), stipitate on an elongated gynophore or subsessile, locule 1, placentae 2, parietal, style 1, stigma 2-lobed. FRUIT a 2-valved septicidal capsule or didymous and forming a pair of 1–3-seeded nutlets. x = 8–17. (Ernst 1963 J. Arnold Arbor. 44:81-93; Iltis 1957 Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 44:77-119; Iltis 1957 Brittonia 10:33-58). 37–50 genera, 800–900 species. Worldwide in tropic and subtropic regions, with few species in warm-temperate, primarily arid regions. Many members of the family have an unpleasant odor, hence common names like stinkflower, stinkweed, and skunkweed. Clammyweed is another common name referring to the sticky stems and foliage of some species. Cleomaceae is here recognized as distinct from Capparacaeae, which lacks a replum and has a woody habit (Hall et al. 2002 Amer. J. Bot. 89:1826-1842).

1.      Stamens 8–20; plants sticky, glandular-puberulent; petals white to cream; ovary subsessile . . . . . . . .
         . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . Polanisia
1'      Stamens 6; plants glabrous or at least not glandular; petals colored, not or very rarely white or
        cream; ovary stipitate  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . ………… .. . . . . .. . . (2)

2.      Fruit didymous, indehiscent, forming 2 nutlets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . .  . Wislizenia
2'      Fruit a dehiscent capsule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (3)

3.      Fruits short and broad, as wide as long or wider, 2–12-seeded, not constricted between the seeds. . . 
         . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..Cleomella
3'      Fruits clearly longer than broad, many-seeded, somewhat constricted between the seeds . . . . . . . . .
         . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Cleome

Cleome L. Beeplant, spiderplant, waa’ (Navajo), tu’mi (Hopi)

(Derivation obscure, an early European name for a mustard-like plant.) LEAVES palmately compound, leaflets 3 to 7. FLOWER ± zygomorphic but occasionally appearing ± actinomorphic, petals yellow or pink to pinkish purple (rarely white in a few); stamens 6; ovary stipitate with a basal gland. FRUIT a capsule, longer than wide, linear to oblong, spreading or pendulous, somewhat constricted between the seeds. SEEDS many. Mostly tropical and subtropical America and Africa. 150–200 species primarily in warm tropical areas.

1.      Petals pink to purplish (rarely white); leaflets 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . C. serrulata
1'      Petals yellow; leaflets 3 to 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C. lutea

   Cleome lutea Hook. (Latin lute = yellow). Yellow beeplant, waa’ (Navajo). Plants erect, herbage glabrous or slightly hairy. STEMS mainly 3–15 dm tall, branched or simple. LEAFLETS 3–5 (7), oblong to lanceolate or elliptic, 0.8–5 cm long, 2–10 mm wide. INFL 2–10 cm long. FLOWER with pedicels 3-10 mm long; sepals and petals yellow; stamens yellow. FRUIT 1–3 (4) cm long, surface striate, spreading, on stipes 6–12 mm long. 2n = 32, 34. [Peritoma luteum (Hook.) Greene] Clay flats, desert scrub, piñon-juniper to ponderosa pine communities from 900–2400m (2950–7900'). ARIZ: Apa, Coc, Nav; COLO: Mon; NMEX: SJn; UTAH. Flowering: May–Jul. Washington to Nebraska, south to California and New Mexico. The seeds were used as a food source prior to the introduction of the Spanish horse (Ute Mountain Ute).

   Cleome serrulata Pursh (Latin serr = saw, referring to the minutely serrulate sepals). Rocky Mountain beeplant, Rocky Mountain beeweed, blue Colorado beeplant, spiderplant, clammyweed, stinkflower, stinkweed, guaco, waa’ (Navajo). Plants erect, herbage glabrous or slightly hairy. STEMS mainly 3–20 dm tall or more, simple or branched above. LEAFLETS 3, lanceolate, elliptic, or oblanceolate, 1.5–7 cm long, 4–14 mm wide, entire. INFL 5–25 cm long or more. FLOWER with pedicels 12–23 mm long; petals lavender; sepals purple to green; stamens with purple filaments. FRUIT 2.5–7 cm long, surface smooth, descending to pendulous, on stipes 1–25 mm long. 2n = 32, 34, 60. [C. inornata Greene, C. integrifolia Torr. & A. Gray, C. serrulata Pursh var. angusta (Jones) Tidestrom, C. serrulata Pursh forma inornata (Greene) W. A. Weber, Peritoma inornatum Greene, P. serrulatum (Pursh) DC.] Disturbed sites and often along roads and streambanks from 900–2800m (2950–9200'). ARIZ: Apa, Nav; COLO: LPl, Mon; NMEX: McK, RAr, San, SJn; UTAH. Flowering: May–Aug. Washington to Saskatchewan, south to California and Arizona. Young plants used among the Navajo as a pot-herb (its foul odor dissipates upon cooking); seeds ground for meal when mixed with corn; plants used in making prayer-sticks (paho) for the Powamu ceremony (Hopi). Boiled stems produce an important yellow dye used in Anasazi pottery. This dye, when mixed with other ingredients, produces a permanent black color when the pots are fired. The plant is also reported as a treatment for stomach disorders, fever, and worms, and as a general tonic.

Cleomella DC. Stinkweed, cleomella

(Diminutive of Cleome). Plants generally ascending to erect, usually branched from the base, glabrous, often red-tinged. STEMS 6–30 cm tall. LEAVES palmately compound, leaflets 3. FLOWER ± actinomorphic, petals yellow to yellow-orange, upper 2 often recurved, stamens 6, anthers coiled when dry, ovary stipitate. FRUIT obdeltoid, rhomboidal, deltoid, or ovoid, usually wider than long, seeds 2–12. (Payson 1922 Univ. Wyoming Publ. Sci. Bot. 1:29-46). 10 species limited to arid Mexico and southwestern U. S.

1.      Leaflets ca. 3.5 times longer than wide (2–7 mm wide); foliage bracts reduced to setae . . . . . . . . . . .
         . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. C. palmeriana
1'      Leaflets ca. 5.5 times longer than wide (1–3 mm wide); foliage bracts linear to 3-foliate . . . . . . . . . . . 
         . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..C. plocasperma

   Cleomella palmeriana M.E. Jones (for Edward Palmer, southwestern botanist). Palmer cleomella. Plant erect–ascending. STEMS branching from the base, 6–30 cm tall. LEAFLETS 9–20 mm long, 2–9 mm wide, elliptic to oblong or lance-oblong; upper bracts reduced to setae. FLOWER on pedicels 5–6 mm long; sepals, acute; petals 3–4 mm long and tipped with red in bud; filaments to about twice as long as petals. FRUIT obtuse apically, base triangular-acute, 2–5 mm long and 5–9 mm wide on an often recurved stipe 3–7 mm long. SEEDS few to several. [C. nana Eastw., C. cornuta Rydb., C. montrosae Payson, C. oöcarpa A. Gray] Mancos Shale in desert shrub communities from 1200–1850 m (3900–6100'). ARIZ: Apa; COLO: Mon; NMEX: SJn. Flowering: May–Jul. A Colorado Plateau endemic limited to the Four Corners region except for var. goodrichii Welsh with conspicuously horned fruits which is endemic to the Uinta Basin.

   Cleomella plocasperma S. Wats. (Greek ploc = twisted and sperma = seed, referring odd-shaped fruits). Watson’s cleomella. Plants erect–ascending. STEMS several, diffuse, generally branching from upper nodes, 15–40 cm tall. LEAFLETS 7–18 mm long, 1– 3 mm wide, linear to narrowly oblong; bracts linear or lowermost 3-foliate. FLOWER on pedicels 9–15 mm long; sepals lanceolate, 0.9–2.2 mm long; petals 3–5 mm long. FRUIT ovoid, rhomboidal, or obovoid, 1.5–3 mm long and 3–6 mm wide on a stipe 2–7 mm long. SEEDS several. Moist or seasonally moist saline-alkaline areas with saltgrass and other salt-tolerant species from 1400–1525 m (4670-5000'). ARIZ: Apa; COLO: Mon. Flowering: Jun–Aug. Mostly limited to the Great Basin in Utah, Oregon, Idaho and California, apparently disjunct in our area.

Polanisia Raf. Clammyweed

(Greek polys = many and anisos = unequal, referring to the many unequal stamens.) Plants viscid-puberulent and strongly rank-smelling. LEAVES palmately compound, leaflets 3. INFL a dense terminal raceme. FLOWERS zygomorphic, petals white, stamens 8–20 long-exserted, purple, and unequal. FRUIT capsular, elongate, erect, subsessile, glandular, somewhat flattened, valves persistent and dehiscing apically, seeds many. (Iltis 1954 Rhodora 56:65-70; Iltis 1958 Brittonia 10:33-58; Iltis 1966 Rhodora 68:41-47). 4–6 species limited to North America.

   Polanisia dodecandra (L.) DC. (Greek dodeca = 12 and andro = man, referring to 12 stamens). Clammyweed. Plants glabrous. STEMS 1.5–8 dm tall. LEAFLETS 0.8–4.5 cm long, 3–18 mm wide, obovate to oblanceolate or elliptic. FLOWER on pedicels 10–21 mm long; sepals purplish; petals white to cream, emarginate; stamens with filaments purple, long-exserted. [P. graveolens Raf., P. trachysperma Torr. & A. Gray, P. uniglandulosa DC.] Desert shrub and juniper communities, often in wash bottoms and often growing on soil derived from Mancos Shale from 1060–2000 m (3480–6560'). COLO: Arc; NMEX: SJn. Flowering: May–Oct. British Columbia east to South Dakota, south to Texas and Mexico and west to California. Our plants belong to var. trachysperma (Torr. & A. Gray) Iltis.

Wislizenia Engelm. Jackass-clover

(Named for Friedrich Adolph Wislizenus, 19th century naturalist-physician and plant collector). (Keller 1979 Brittonia 31:333-351). A genus of one species.

   Wislizenia refracta Engelm. (Latin refractus = bent abruptly backward, referring to the reflexed stalk of the fruits). Jackass-clover. Plants annual or perennial, glabrous to puberulent. STEMS branched from the base, 0.5–24 dm tall. LEAVES palmately compound with usually 3 leaflets, petiole 3–25 mm long. INFL a dense, terminal raceme up to 20 cm in fruit. FLOWER actinomorphic; pedicels 5-10 mm long; sepals ca 2 mm long, green; petals elliptic, yellow, tapered to the base; stamens 8–14 mm long, yellow; ovary of 2 nearly separate lobes, each usually with 1 ovule. FRUIT of 2 nutlets with deciduous valves on a reflexed, stalk-like receptacle. SEEDS usually one per nutlet. 2n = 40. Alkaline soils in valleys and washes up to 2000 m (6560'). ARIZ: Nav; UTAH. Flowering: May–Jun. California to Texas and northwest Mexico. Plants are reported to be toxic to humans, but in California are considered to be an important honey plant. Our plants belong to var. refracta.