''Polanisia dodecandra'' is a species of flowering plant in the

Cleomaceae The Cleomaceae are a small family of flowering plants in the order Brassicales, comprising about 300 species in 10 genera, or about 150 species in 17 genera.Cleomaceae, Zhang Mingli (张明理)1; Gordon C. Tucker2, Harvard.edu/ref> These genera ...

family, known by the common name redwhisker clammyweed or clammyweed, and there are three subspecies of ''Polanisia''. Usually

annual Annual may refer to: * Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year **Yearbook **Literary annual * Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), ...

, occasionally

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

, Polanisia is native to North America, and is found throughout much of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. It favors full sun, mesic to dry conditions, and barren, sandy or gravelly soils, even highly disturbed areas where there is little other ground vegetation. It looks similar to a close relative, the spider flower (''

Cleome ''Cleome'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cleomaceae, commonly known as spider flowers, spider plants, spider weeds, or bee plants. Previously, it had been placed in the family Capparaceae, until DNA studies found the Cleomaceae ge ...

''). The scientific name of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

derives from the fact that the plant has numerous, long stamens of unequal lengths (from Greek ''polys'', "many", and ''anisos'', "unequal"). The name of the species, ''dodecandra'' means "having 12 stamens". The common name clammyweed refers to the sticky, or clammy, residue left on hands after handling the plant. ''Polanisia'' grows from tall and the vegetation and sap have a noticeable odor described as smelling unpleasant, sulphur-like, "strong and rank". The leaves, about long, are made up of three palmate leaflets. The stems are covered in

glandular hair Trichomes (); ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a plan ...

s, and numerous flowers are borne in terminal racemes (May–October). Each flower has four white or cream petals about long, and reddish purple stamens extend well beyond the petals (hence the "red whisker" clammyweed

nomenclature Nomenclature (, ) is a system of names or terms, or the rules for forming these terms in a particular field of arts or sciences. The principles of naming vary from the relatively informal conventions of everyday speech to the internationally agre ...

). The seedpods are long, slender capsules long. They contain multiple small reddish brown seeds approx . ''Polanisia'' seedpods project upward (whereas ''Cleome'' pods project out or down). There are several subspecies of 'Polanisia dodecandra'', including: * ''Polanisia dodecandra'' subsp. ''dodecandra'' – redwhisker clammyweed * ''P. dodecandra'' subsp. ''riograndensis'' – Rio Grande clammyweed (only found in Texas) * ''P. dodecandra'' subsp. ''trachysperma'' – sandyseed clammyweed.

Uses

The plant is related to the

caper ''Capparis spinosa'', the caper bush, also called Flinders rose, is a perennial plant that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and large white to pinkish-white flowers. The plant is best known for the edible flower buds (capers), used as a seasoning ...

. There are culinary and ceremonial uses.

References

External links

Missouri Plants Photo ProfilePhoto gallery
Cleomaceae Plants described in 1824 Flora of the United States Flora of Canada {{Brassicales-stub