Cleome rutidosperma DC.

Taxonomy: Plantae > Tracheophyta > Equisetopsida > Brassicales > Cleomaceae > Cleome > C. rutidosperma

Description: Annual, erect or decumbent herb, to 1 m high; stems weak, ribbed, subglabrous to eglandular-pilose, clothed with soft recurved caducous to 2 mm long prickles. Leaves trifoliolate; lower ones long-petioled; upper ones short-petioled or sessile; leaflets subsessile, rhombate-elliptic, obovate or oblong-lanceolate, attenuate or cuneate and webbed at base, obscurely crenulate-serrulate and purple at margin, acute or acuminate at apex, glabrous; lateral nerves 6-8 pairs, softly setose; petioles at base to 4 cm long, gradually diminishing upwards to nearly absent; petiolules less than 1 mm long. Racemes lax, few-flowered, leaf bearing, not clearly demarcated, to 20 cm long. Flowers in axils of leaves below and in axils of foliaceous bracts above; pedicels filiform, elongating to 3.5 cm in fruit, shortly glandular hairy. Sepals linear or linear-lanceolate, acuminate, thinly clothed with short bristles. Petals oblong-elliptic to oblanceolate, clawed at base, apiculate at apex, showy, pink, bluish violet, rarely white with pink streaks; claw 2-3.5 mm long. Stamens 6; filaments 6-9 mm long; anthers linear, recurved after anthesis. Gynophore elongating to 8 mm in fruit. Ovary linear, slightly curved; stigma sessile, capitate. Capsules linear-cylindric, compressed, attenuate at both ends, ribbed, valves glabrous, parallel nerved; seeds many, suborbicular to reniform with prominent concentric and transverse ridges and open cleft, orange-brown, drying black; elaiosome conspicuous, white or creamy.

Flowering and Fruiting: May - November

Uses: Diuretic and antibacterial

Cultivation: Wild.

References

http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org

https://indiabiodiversity.org