Rocky Mountain Bee Plant  - Cleome serrulata

Location/Trail:  Sandy's Canyon TrailDate sighted:  2/14/2010Season:  SummerThis native annual is a member of the caper family, Capparaceae. It grows to a height of 1-4'. The dense, fuzzy-looking, purple or pink spike cluster, 2-3" long are made of dozens of small flowers. Each blossom is 1/2" long, has 8 petals and petal-like sepals and long protruding flower parts. Blooms June through September. The lower leaves are dull green, long stalked and divided into 3 oval leaflets, 1-3" long, with pointed tips and smooth or minutely toothed edges. The leaves on the upper part of the waxy smooth stem are simple. The curved, bean-like green fruit pod is 1-3" long and attached to a long stalk. It turns brown with maturity and has 2 chambers containing several egg-shaped, mottled brown seeds. It is found in the northern half of Arizona inhabiting desert scrub, grasslands, oak/pinyon pine/juniper woods, flats and slopes. This was a well-known plant to Navajo and other American Indian tribes in the Southwest, who used it in a variety of ways.