''Cleome lutea'' is a species of

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 ...

known by the common names yellow bee plant and yellow spiderflower. This annual wildflower is native to the western United States where it is most common in desert scrub and plateau habitats. It is a sprawling plant often exceeding 1 metre (3 feet) in height. The erect stem can be branched and has widely spaced leaves all the way along, each leaf made up of three to five leaflets, which are smaller closer to the top of the plant. Atop the stem is a showy

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...

of many bright yellow flowers. Each flower has four narrow

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined ...

s and four oblong petals around a cluster of six long

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

s tipped with knobby anthers. As the inflorescence lengthens at the top of the stem, flowers that have opened and been pollinated drop their petals and the

ovary The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the bod ...

develops into a fruit. The fruits are capsules several centimeters long containing large seeds; these develop at the base of the inflorescence and hang on

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence. Such inflorescences are described as ''pedicellate''. Description Pedicel refers to a structure connecting a single flower to its inflorescence. In the absenc ...

. A flowering plant may have blooming flowers at the top of the stem and ripening capsules dangling off the stem further down. Some

Plateau Indian Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau, also referred to by the phrase Indigenous peoples of the Plateau, and historically called the Plateau Indians (though comprising many groups) are indigenous peoples of the Interior of British Columbi ...

tribes drank an infusion from the branch and flowers of the yellow bee plant as a treatment for the common cold.

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery
lutea {{Brassicales-stub