EASTERN CLEOMELLA
File Size: 71 KB
 
Cleomella angustifolia  Torr.
Stafford County, Kansas
Annual
Height: 2-8 feet
Family: Capparaceae - Caper Family
Flowering Period:   July, August, September
Also Called: Narrow-leaf rhombopod.
Stems: Erect, branched, often bushy, glabrous.
Leaves: Alternate, stalked, palmately tri-foliolate; leaflets linear-elliptic to linear, 1 to 2.4 inches long, 1/12 to 1/3 inch wide; margins entire, tips pointed; stipules minute.
Inflorescences: Racemes, bracted, terminating branches.
Flowers: Small, regular, on stalks 1/4 to 1/2 inch long; sepals 4, distinct, thin, overlapping, deciduous; petals 4, oblanceolate, 1/6 to 1/4 inch long; stamens 6, of equal length.
Fruits: Pod, broader than long, rhombic to somewhat triangular, 1/5 to 2/5 inch long and wide; valves 2, helmet-like; seeds 3-6 per capsule, kidney-shaped, dark brown, mottled.
Habitat: Roadsides, river bottoms, gravel bars, and draws; sandy soils.
Distribution: Central 1/3 of Kansas.
Comments: Angustifolia is from Latin angustus "narrow" and folium "leaf", alluding to the leaflets.

Eastern cleomella
149 KB
Stafford County, Kansas
Eastern cleomella flowers
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Stafford County, Kansas
Eastern cleomella inflorescences
139 KB
Stafford County, Kansas
Eastern cleomella leaf
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Stafford County, Kansas
Eastern cleomella pods
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Stafford County, Kansas