Cleome viscosa L.
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Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
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Family
Cleomaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Herb or subshrub to 1 m tall; viscous, especially on young parts; stem green, striate; stipules minute, covered with glandular hairs, early deciduous. Leaves chartaceous, palmate, with 3 or 5 leaflets; leaflets elliptic, oblong or oblanceolate, 1-7 x 0.5-2.2 cm (the central one larger), both surfaces covered with minute, whitish, glandular hairs, the apex acute or acuminate, the base attenuate or cuneate, the margins wavy and ciliate; petioles shorter or as long as the blades. Flowers solitary in leaf axil; calyx light green, densely covered with glandular hairs, the sepals 4, oblong to lanceolate, 5 mm long; petals yellow, obovate, 1 cm long, tapering into a 3 mm long, narrow base, usually purplish; stamens (10-) 16-26, the filaments yellow, 7 mm long, the anthers greenish; ovary light yellow, cylindrical, sessile, densely covered with glandular hairs, the style minute, the stigma yellow and capitate. Fruit cylindrical, 6-8 cm long, striate, turning from green to straw-colored, without stipe; peduncle 1.5-2.3 cm long. Seeds brown, kidney-shaped, 1.5 mm long, transversely ridged.
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Distribution
Common in open, disturbed areas. Cruz Bay (A1954, A2353), Emmaus (A1997). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, Tortola, and Virgin Gorda; a temperate and tropical weed native to the Old World tropics.
Saint John Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Virgin Gorda Virgin Islands South America| Tortola Virgin Islands South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America|