About Cleomella lutea (Hook.) Roalson & J.C.Hall
Cleomella lutea (Hook.) Roalson & J.C.Hall is a species of flowering plant with two common names: yellow bee plant and yellow spiderflower. This annual wildflower is native to the western United States, where it is most often found in desert scrub and plateau habitats. It is a sprawling plant that often grows over 1 metre (3 feet) in height. Its erect stem may be branched, and bears widely spaced leaves along its full length. Each leaf is composed of three to five leaflets, which grow smaller closer to the top of the stem. A showy inflorescence holding many bright yellow flowers grows at the top of the stem. Each flower has four narrow sepals and four oblong petals, surrounding a cluster of six long stamens tipped with knobby anthers. As the inflorescence lengthens at the top of the stem, pollinated opened flowers drop their petals, and their ovary develops into a fruit. These fruits are capsules several centimeters long that contain large seeds. The capsules develop at the base of the inflorescence and hang from pedicels. A single flowering individual can have blooming flowers at the top of its stem, and ripening capsules dangling further down the stem. Some Plateau Indian tribes drank an infusion made from the branches and flowers of this plant to treat the common cold.
