''Cleomella arborea'' syn. ''Peritoma arborea'' (formerly '' Isomeris arborea'', syn. ''

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 ...

isomeris''), is a perennial shrub or bush in the spiderflower family ( Cleomaceae) known by the common names bladderpod, bladderpod spiderflower and burro-fat.Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Pam MacKay, 2nd Ed. 2013, p. 230 It has yellow flowers in bloom all months of the year. It emits a foul odor to discourage herbivory from insects.

Range and habitat

''Cleomella arborea'' is commonly found along roadsides,

desert dry wash Desert dry wash is a North American desert vegetation type (or biome) occurring in the flat bottoms of canyons and drainages that lack water at or near the surface most of the year, and are subject to periodic severe flooding events.Pam MacKay, Moj ...

es, and flat areas up to , in the western Mojave Desert and

Colorado Desert California's Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert. It encompasses approximately , including the heavily irrigated Coachella and Imperial valleys. It is home to many unique flora and fauna. Geography and geology The Colorado De ...

to Baja California Peninsula. It is native to California and Baja California Peninsula where it grows in a variety of habitats usually described as desert or brush. Peritoma_arborea_8240

Description

It is a densely branching

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

high covered with tiny hairs. Its stalked leaves are generally composed of three equal leaflets long, oval to elliptic in shape and pointed at the tip. The plant produces abundant inflorescences at the ends of the stem branches much of the year. The four sepals are fused about halfway from their base. Each flower has four bright yellow long petals, six protruding

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 filame ...

s with

anther 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. The style is or aborts before flowering. The fruit is a leathery prolate spheroid capsule long and wide on a stalk. It is smooth and green when new, aging to light brown. 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.Torrey, J. & A. Gray. A flora of North America. 1838

1840 Events January–March * January 3 – One of the predecessor papers of the ''Herald Sun'' of Melbourne, Australia, ''The Port Phillip Herald'', is founded. * January 10 – Uniform Penny Post is introduced in the United Kingdom. * Janua ...

volume 1.page 12

/ref>

References

External links

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Photo gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15519490 Cleomaceae Flora of the California desert regions Flora of Baja California Flora of the Sonoran Deserts Flora of California Flora without expected TNC conservation status