Cleome viscosa L.

Asian spiderflower (en), Cléome (fr)

Species

Angiosperms > Brassicales > Cleomaceae > Cleome

Characteristics

Annual, mostly widely branched herb up to 1 m, glandular, yellowish hairy, viscid and stinking. Leaflets tinhly herbaceous, 5-3, diminishing upwards in size, subsessile, oblong, the central leaflet c. 1-3(-5.5) by (0.25-)0.5-1(-2) cm; base cuneate, top acute to obtuse; nerves 3-6 pairs; petiole (¼-)1-3(-6) cm. Racemes corymbose; flowers in the axils of reduced leaves, largely actinomorphic, opening in the morning, closing in the afternoon, ephemeral. Sepals oblong, blunt to acute, (2.5-)6-7(-8) by (0.5-)1-3 mm. Petals yellow (once reported white), thin, glabrous, oblong, (4-)7-12 by (1.25-)3-5 mm, base cuneate or ± clawed, top rounded. Stamens (8-)10-20 (-30), glabrous; filaments (3-)5-7 mm towards the abaxial side, gradually increasing in length by 1-2 mm, not or only very slightly swollen at the top; anthers linear, c. 1.5-2 mm. Ovary sessile, c. 3-10 mm beaked, minutely glandular-hairy. Fruit erect, (1/3-)2-3(-4) cm pedicelled, (1.5-)6-% (-10) cm by (2-)3-4.5 mm, beak 2.5-4(-7) mm; valves with distinct centripetal nerves. Seeds c. 1.25 mm diam., 1 mm thick, red-brown, cleft narrow, with strong cross-ribs and faint concentric ribs. No elaiosome.
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Annual herb, erect, unbranched or branched, to 1.5 m high, glandular-pubescent, unarmed. Leaves 3–5-foliolate, exstipulate; petiole 1–6 cm long; leaflets oblanceolate to elliptic, acute to obtuse or rounded, 0.6–6 cm long, 0.5–3 cm wide, entire, glandular-ciliate; base attenuate to cuneate. Inflorescence a bracteate raceme. Sepals 5–10 mm long, usually deciduous. Petals 7–14 mm long, attenuate to scarcely clawed, yellow. Stamens 10–26, free, included. Ovary sessile, glandular-pubescent. Siliqua linear, erect, 3–10 cm long, 2–4 mm wide, on pedicels 6–30 mm long; valves longitudinally striate, glandular-pubescent, persistent; style to c. 5 mm long. Seeds suborbicular, 1.3–1.8 mm long, transversely rugose, cleft closed but not fused, aril absent.
Annual herb, branched above, erect, up to 1 m. tall, foul smelling.. Stem angular, rather densely glandular-hairy.. Leaves petiolate, 3–5-foliolate; leaflets obovate, up to 4 cm. long, obtuse or rounded, sometimes retuse, at the apex, cuneate at the base; petiole up to 14 mm. long.. Inflorescence up to 30 cm. long, with few corymbose ephemeral flowers at the top; rhachis markedly elongating in fruit; bracts foliaceous, scarcely smaller than the leaves.. Sepals lanceolate, 4–6 mm. long, glandular-puberulous.. Petals 6–9 mm. long, yellow.. Stamens 10–20.. Gynophore absent.. Capsules 3.5–7.5 cm. long, glandular-hairy.. Seeds ±1.4 mm. in diameter, dark brown with fine longitudinal striations and conspicuous transverse ridges.
An erect annual herb. It is sticky. It has a rank smell and is about 0.3 to 1 m high. The leaves are made up of 3 to 5 leaflets each 1 to 3 cm long. The flowers are in leafy groups at the end of branches. The flowering shoots are 5-10 cm long. The flower stalks are less than 1 cm long. The petals are yellow and 7 to 8 mm long. The fruit is a capsule 3-10 cm long by 2-4 mm wide. It has ridges along it. It partly splits open. It is narrow. It narrows and gradually tapers near the tip. The stems and seed pods are hairy. The seeds are round, black and 1 mm across. There are 25-40 seeds. They are light brown and 1.2-1.8 mm long by 1-1.2 mm wide. They have fine ridges.
Erect herb, to 2 ft. high, very sticky
Flowers yellow.
Life form annual
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 1.0
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

A common, very tolerant, ruderal plant, on fallow land, along roadsides, on rubbish-heaps, in fields, etc., often on sandy, sometimes on calcareous soil, both under seasonally dry and everwet climatic conditions, sometimes near the coast or in savannahs, up to 500 m, mostly lower. Fl. fr. Jan.-Dec.According to RIDLEY in Malaya dispersed endozoically by water-buffalos ( RIDLEY Disp. 1930 368 ). FOSBERG observed in the Marianas that the seeds were eaten by birds.KOOPER found on the sugarcane-fields in East Java a weed community, characterized by Polanisia viscosa, typical for recent, very pervious, volcanic, light soils valuable for sugar culture. He recorded wilting experiments with this species under dry conditions ( KOOPER Rec. Trav. Bot. Neerl. 24 1927 56 seq., 218 seq. ).Mr N. G. BISSET found the seeds containing an appreciable amount of alkaloid.
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It is a tropical plant. They are found in waste places at low and medium altitudes throughout the Philippines. In Nepal it grows up to 1200 m altitude. It is damaged by drought and frost. It grows in wetlands. It can grow in arid places. It restricts the germination and growth of Pearl millet. In central China it grows from sea level to 300 m above sea level. In Yunnan.
Sandy and freely draining soils in open woodland scrub and on scree slopes in dry areas. Woodland and grassland, and as a weed of fallow land, fields, roadsides and wasteland; at elevations up to 1,000 metres.
Sandy and freely draining soils in open woodland scrub and on scree slopes in dry areas.
Light 7-9
Soil humidity 2-7
Soil texture 4-6
Soil acidity 3-7
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 8-12

Usage

Uses. There is a record from Java and one from Hainan stating that the sap of the leaves with water or milk is applied on the eyes. In Perak the herb is rubbed on the body against rheumatism. In Central Sumatra the leaves and seeds are added to tobacco to stress its narcotic properties. Besides, the plant finds a number of other minor medical applications; see HEYNE ( HEYNE Nutt. Pl. 1927 682 ) and QUISUMBING ( QUISUMBING Med. Pl. Philip. 1951 346 .).
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The leaves are edible cooked. The young fruit are eaten candied. Roasted seeds are used in curries and pickles. Seed oil is used for cooking. The seeds are dried and ground and used as a vegetable. The leaves are soaked, fermented and used as a spice.
Uses animal food bee plant environmental use food gene source material medicinal oil social use spice
Edible fruits leaves pods seeds shoots
Therapeutic use Counterirritant (bark), Urinary bladder calculi (bark), Insecticides (flower), Anthelmintics (leaf), Anticonvulsants (leaf), Antifungal agents (leaf), Antiviral agents (leaf), Bronchitis (leaf), Dysentery (leaf), Ear diseases (leaf), Earache (leaf), Edema (leaf), Fever (leaf), Flatulence (leaf), Gonorrhea (leaf), Headache (leaf), Hypohidrosis (leaf), Insecticides (leaf), Counterirritant (leaf), Paratyphoid fever (leaf), Toothache (leaf), Ulcer (leaf), Urinary bladder calculi (leaf), Wounds and injuries (leaf), Diaphoretic (leaf), Anthelmintics (root), Pregnancy (root), General tonic for rejuvenation (root), Scurvy (root), Analgesics (seed), Anthelmintics (seed), Anti-bacterial agents (seed), Anticonvulsants (seed), Antifungal agents (seed), Antiparasitic agents (seed), Antipyretics (seed), Arthralgia (seed), Cardiotonic agents (seed), Cardiovascular diseases (seed), Diarrhea (seed), Dyspepsia (seed), Earache (seed), Fever (seed), Flatulence (seed), Furunculosis (seed), Hemorrhoids (seed), Insecticides (seed), Counterirritant (seed), Skin diseases (seed), Urinary bladder calculi (seed), Insecticides (stem), Ache(Ear) (unspecified), Counterirritant (unspecified), Diarrhea (unspecified), Fever (unspecified), Vesicant (unspecified), Headache (unspecified), Carminative (unspecified), Apertif (unspecified), Synergist (Narcotic) (unspecified), Wound (unspecified), Collyrium (unspecified), Ear (unspecified), Ophthalmia (unspecified), Rheumatism (unspecified), Stimulant (unspecified), Arthritis (unspecified), Inflammation (unspecified), Rubefacient (unspecified), Sudorific (unspecified), Vermifuge (unspecified), Poultice (unspecified), Anthelmintics (unspecified), Ear diseases (unspecified), Hematologic diseases (unspecified), Leprosy (unspecified), Liver diseases (unspecified), Malaria (unspecified), Pain (unspecified), Skin diseases (unspecified), Snake bites (unspecified), Syphilis (unspecified), Ulcer (unspecified), Wounds and injuries (unspecified), Analgesics (whole plant), Antifungal agents (whole plant), Antipyretics (whole plant), Arthritis (whole plant), Diarrhea (whole plant), Elephantiasis (whole plant), Fever (whole plant), Fractures, bone (whole plant), Plague (whole plant), Psychophysiologic disorders (whole plant), Anthelmintics (whole plant excluding root), Malaria (whole plant excluding root)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Plants are grown from seed.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) 10 - 15
Germination temperacture (C°) 24 - 25
Germination luminosity light
Germination treatment stratification
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Leaf

Cleome viscosa leaf picture by Jamil Usman (cc-by-sa)
Cleome viscosa leaf picture by Jagadeeswaran Kannan (cc-by-sa)
Cleome viscosa leaf picture by Finola Jennings Clark (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Cleome viscosa flower picture by Jagadeeswaran Kannan (cc-by-sa)
Cleome viscosa flower picture by Arvind Kulkarni (cc-by-sa)
Cleome viscosa flower picture by Georges LÉGER (cc-by-sa)

Fruit

Cleome viscosa fruit picture by Jagadeeswaran Kannan (cc-by-sa)
Cleome viscosa fruit picture by Rajendra Rajendra Choure (cc-by-sa)
Cleome viscosa fruit picture by Augustin Soulard (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Cleome viscosa world distribution map, present in Afghanistan, American Samoa, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Benin, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, Burkina Faso, Bangladesh, Bermuda, Barbados, Bhutan, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Cook Islands, Colombia, Comoros, Cabo Verde, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Micronesia (Federated States of), Guinea, Guadeloupe, Guinea-Bissau, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, India, Jamaica, Cambodia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Saint Lucia, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Maldives, Mexico, Mali, Northern Mariana Islands, Mauritania, Montserrat, Martinique, Mauritius, Malaysia, Niger, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Niue, Nepal, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Puerto Rico, Réunion, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Senegal, Singapore, Sierra Leone, El Salvador, Seychelles, Chad, Togo, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Taiwan, Province of China, Tanzania, United Republic of, United States Minor Outlying Islands, United States of America, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Viet Nam, Yemen, and South Africa

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:320133-2
WFO ID wfo-0000611671
COL ID VZDP
BDTFX ID 125461
INPN ID 447081
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Arivela viscosa Cleome acutifolia Cleome icosandra Sinapistrum viscosum Polanisia microphylla Corynandra viscosa Polanisia viscosa Polanisia icosandra Cleome viscosa var. parviflora Polanisia viscosa Cleome viscosa f. deglabrata Cleome viscosa var. viscosa Polanisia viscosa var. icosandra Cleome viscosa

Lower taxons

Cleome viscosa var. deglabrata Cleome viscosa var. nagarjunakondensis