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Peritoma
serrulata. Synonym: Cleome serrulata. (Rocky Mountain Bee Plant) Foothills,
montane. Roadsides, disturbed areas. Summer, fall. Cleome serrulata can grow to six feet tall with very attractive pink flowers having long exserted stamens. Leaves (best seen in the right center of the photograph at left) are palmately compound with three long and narrow divisions. The plant is found along roadsides and other disturbed areas and often grows in attractive clusters of many plants. The Cleome family was named by Linnaeus in 1753. This species was placed in that family and named Cleome serrulata by Frederick Pursh in 1814 from a collection made by Meriwether Lewis: "August 25, 1804, growth of the open Prairies" along the Vermillion River of South Dakota. Augustin de Candolle named the Peritoma genus and moved this species to that genus, keeping the genus in Cleomaceae. "Peritoma" is from the Greek "peri" (all around) and "tome" (a slice), alluding to the cut of the calyx base. "Serrulata" means "fine toothed" and refers to the minutely serrated sepals.
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Peritoma
serrulata. Synonym: Cleome serrulata. (Rocky Mountain Bee Plant) Foothills,
montane. Roadsides, disturbed areas. Summer, fall. Fruits are pendulous and from 1 to 3 inches long. |
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Peritoma
serrulata. Synonym: Cleome serrulata. (Rocky Mountain Bee Plant) Foothills,
montane. Roadsides, disturbed areas. Summer, fall. |
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Peritoma
serrulata. Synonym: Cleome serrulata. (Rocky Mountain Bee Plant) Foothills,
montane. Roadsides, disturbed areas. Summer, fall. Leaflets are long, narrow, and in threes, quite reminiscent of Trifolium leaves of Fabaceae (Pea Family). |
Range map © John Kartesz, County Color Key
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Range map for Peritoma serrulata |