clammyweed

plant

Also known as: Polanisia trachysperma

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Article History

clammyweed, (Polanisia trachysperma), North American herb of the Cleome genus of the family Cleomaceae, closely related to the mustard family, Brassicaceae. The plant is 60 cm (2 feet) tall and has leaves that give off a foul odour when bruised. The stems and three-parted leaves are hairy and sticky. Bladelike bracts (leaflike appendages) are crowded along the flowering stalks. The flowers have four sepals, four white petals, and eight-to-many protruding purple stamens (male pollen-producing structures). An annual, clammyweed grows on sunny waste ground and roadsides in warm-temperate regions.

This article was most recently revised and updated by William L. Hosch.