1. Cleome L.

Leaves short- to long-petiolate. Leaf blades trifoliate or palmately compound, the leaflets with the margins entire or finely toothed. Stipules absent or minute, or spines. Inflorescences elongate bracteate terminal racemes or the flowers solitary in the leaf axils. Buds with the petals well developed, overlapping and wrapped around the young stamens. Flowers zygomorphic, but the petals similar in size, entire and more or less rounded at the tip, purple or less commonly white (rarely yellow elsewhere). Stamens 6, the filaments equal in length, the anthers elongate, attached at the base. Fruits on a long gynophore, usually spreading or pendant, elongate, with a persistent replum, the valves shed at dehiscence and readily releasing the seeds. About 150 species, nearly worldwide, most diverse in seasonally arid portions of tropical America and Africa.

About 58 species are recognized in the New World (Iltis, 1952). Two subgenera are recognized (Iltis, 1952), one in the Old World, and one in the New World. Some species of Cleome are cultivated as ornamentals. Several species also are favorites among beekeepers.