Cleome serrulata
(Rocky Mountain Bee Plant)

Other pictures of this plant:


               Seedpod                                           Leaf                                            Stem                                        Seed                                          Habit

Facts About this Plant:

    Common Names: Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, Rocky Mountain Beeweed, Stinking Clover, Stinkweed, Bee Spider-flower, Skunk Weed, Navajo Spinach, Guaco
    Synonyms: Peritoma serrulata
    Lifespan: Annual
    Zones: N/A
    Type: Forb
    Bloom Time: May - September
    Status: Native
    Range:

Cleome serrulata , or Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, is an annual that grows in most of the US, except the southeast, or the northeast. It is a typically western plant, but has spread somewhat into the central and midwestern US. Growing in fields, prairies, along roads and in dry, waste areas, it can be as tall as four feet, or also a shorter plant, with stalks of purple-pink flowers that bees and hummingbirds love.

This plant is easily distinguished from the others in its genus by its showy nature and its purple flowers - most others have either yellow flowers, or very sparsely populated flower clusters. It also has a foul odor, owing to the common names of stink weed and skunk weed.

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