Cleomella arborea explained

Cleomella arborea[1] [2] [3] (synonyms Peritoma arborea, Cleome isomeris, and Isomeris arborea[4]), is a perennial shrub or bush in the spiderflower family (Cleomaceae) known by the common names bladderpod, bladderpod spiderflower and burro-fat.[5] [6] [7] [8] It has yellow flowers in bloom all months of the year.[7] It emits a foul odor to discourage herbivory from insects.[7]

Range and habitat

Cleomella arborea is commonly found along roadsides, desert dry washes, and flat areas up to 4200feet, in the western Mojave Desert and Colorado Desert to Baja California Peninsula.[7] It is native to California and Baja California Peninsula where it grows in a variety of habitats usually described as desert or brush.[9]

Description

It is a densely branching shrub 0.5- high covered with tiny hairs.[5] [7] Its stalked leaves are generally composed of three equal leaflets 15mm45mm long, oval to elliptic in shape and pointed at the tip.[5] [7] The plant produces abundant inflorescences at the ends of the stem branches much of the year.[7] The four sepals are fused about halfway from their base. Each flower has four bright yellow 8mm14mm long petals, six protruding 15mm25mm stamens with 2mm2.5mm anthers. The style is 0.9mm1.2mm or aborts before flowering.[5] The fruit is a leathery prolate spheroid capsule 30mm60mm long and 10mm25mm wide on a 10mm20mm stalk. It is smooth and green when new, aging to light brown.[5]

A typical inflorescence bears a number of flower buds at its tip, open flowers proximal to the buds, and maturing fruits which have shed their flowers below these.

In the previous genus name, "Iso" means "equal", and "meris" means "part", referring to the stamens being of equal length.[10]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Patchell . Melanie J. . Roalson . Eric H. . Hall . Jocelyn C. . 2014-04-01 . Resolved phylogeny of Cleomaceae based on all three genomes . Taxon . en . 63 . 2 . 315–328 . 10.12705/632.17.
  2. Roalson . Eric H. . Hall . Jocelyn C. . Riser II . James P. . Cardinal-McTeague . Warren M. . Cochrane . Theodore S. . Sytsma . Kenneth J. . 2015-04-21 . A revision of generic boundaries and nomenclature in the North American cleomoid clade (Cleomaceae) . Phytotaxa . 205 . 3 . 129 . 10.11646/phytotaxa.205.3.1 . 1179-3163.
  3. Web site: Cleomella arborea (Nutt.) Roalson & J.C.Hall Plants of the World Online Kew Science . 2022-10-04 . Plants of the World Online . en.
  4. Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Pam MacKay, 2nd Ed. 2013, P. 314
  5. Web site: Peritoma arborea . 2018 . in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora . Jepson Herbarium; University of California, Berkeley . 2018-07-06.
  6. Web site: Cleome isomeris . 2018 . USDA, NRCS. . The PLANTS Database . National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA. . 2018-07-06.
  7. Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Pam MacKay, 2nd Ed. 2013, p. 230
  8. Web site: Flora of North America Editorial Committee . 1993–2018 . Peritoma arborea . Flora of North America North of Mexico. 20+ vols. New York and Oxford. . 2018-07-18.
  9. Web site: Peritoma arborea . Sullivan . Steven. K. . 2018 . Wildflower Search . 2018-07-06.
  10. Torrey, J. & A. Gray. A flora of North America. 1838 [-1840]. volume 1.page 124.https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/5290592