The Temperate Database is in the process of being updated, with new records being added and old ones being checked and brought up to date where necessary. This record has not yet been checked and updated.

Common Name: Rocky Mountain Beeplant

General Information

Cleome serrulata is an annual plant that can grow up to 1.00 metres tall.
It is harvested from the wild for local use as a food, medicine and source of materials.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

,

Range

Western N. America - Washington to Saskatchewan and south to California..

Habitat

Waste land, plains and lower mountains[], often on sandy soils[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Habit	Annual
Height	1.00 m
Pollinators	Bees
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Prefers a light fertile soil in a warm dry sunny position with plenty of room to spread[].
A frost tender plant, it can be grown as a summer annual in Britain[].
A very good bee plant, it is often planted by apiarists in America[].
This plant was probably cultivated by the N. American Indians[]. The Indians would allow the plant to produce seed when it was growing wild in the cornfields in order to ensure a supply the following year[].

Edible Uses

Young shoots, leaves and flowers are cooked and used as potherbs[, , , ]. The plants were gathered and, after removing an alkaline taste[], were eaten with cornmeal porridge[, ]. The plant smells like a skunk, but it was an important potherb for the native North American Indians and the early European settlers in America[].
Seed - raw or cooked[]. It can be dried and ground into a meal then used as a mush or mixed with flour to make bread etc[, , , ].
Seedpods - cooked[].
The hardened cakes of dyestuff (see note on the plants other uses) can be soaked in hot water and then eaten fried[].

Medicinal

An infusion of the plant is drunk in the treatment of fevers and stomach disorders[, ].
A poultice made from the pounded, soaked leaves has been applied to sore eyes[].

Other Uses

A black dye is obtained[, , ] by boiling down the whole plant[]. It is used as a paint for decorating pottery[]. The young plants are harvested in mid-summer, boiled well in water, the woody parts of the plant are removed and the decoction is boiled again until it becomes thick and turns black. This thick liquid is then poured onto a board to dry in cakes and can be kept for an indefinite period. When needed it is soaked in hot water until the correct consistency for paint is achieved[].
A decoction of the leaves has been used as a body and shoe deodorant[].

Propagation

Seed - surface sow or only lightly cover the seed in spring in a greenhouse[]. The seed usually germinates in 5 - 14 days at 25°c[]. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in late spring. Day time temperatures below 20°c depress germination but a night time fall to 20° is necessary[].