USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. 3 vols. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York. Vol. 2: 197.
Where Commonly Found: Meadows and fields, CT, MA, ME, NY
How to Identify:
(For unfamiliar words: Wikipedia Glossary of Botanical Terms).
Go Botany Key to Cleome (Peritoma) serrulata
Flower Color: Purplish red, pink to sometimes white.
Flower Type: Showy clusters of racemes (simple unbranched indeterminate flower having short floral stalks), continue to elongate during the season, 4 oblong to ovate petals, 6 conspicuous purple stamens.
Flower Time: July – August.
Leaf Arrangement: Alternate compound leaves. Annual with erect stem, sparsley-branched, glabrous stems, a distinct skunk-like odor.
Leaf Type: Palmately compound leaves, 3 leaflets, elliptic blade, 2-6 x .6-1.5 cm, margins entire, weakly sinuate surface having sparse long hairs when young.
Height: 3′-6′
Seed Head: Slender seed capsule that may be present while upper portion is flowering.
Seed Collection: Corn shaped brown rounded seeds, fall out of pod when mature.
Attracts: Bees, Butterflies, Hummingbirds
Use: Naturalizing
Light: Full Sun to Part Sun
Hardiness Zone: 3 to 0 USDA Zone Map
Soils: Dry, Sandy
Notes: Rocky Mountain Beeplant is a showy native, reseeding annual, valuable in the naturalized pollinator garden.
Native to NY, ME, MA, Midwest and West US: Biota of North America Program (BONAP) – North American Plant Atlas (NAPA).
