About Cleomella oxystyloides Roalson, J.C.Hall & Riser
Cleomella oxystyloides is a species of flowering plant in the cleome family Cleomaceae, and its common name is spiny caper. It is native to the Mojave Desert that spans the border between California and Nevada, and it grows in rocky and sandy desert habitat, often in alkaline soils. It is an annual herb that produces an erect, branching stem which can grow up to 1.5 meters tall. Its leaves are composed of three thick, firm leaflets measuring 2 to 6 centimeters long, and these leaves grow on a stout, straight petiole. The inflorescence is a dense cluster of flowers positioned around the stem at the leaf axils, and each individual flower has four small yellow petals. The fruit is a small white or purple nutlet that carries the spine-like remnant of the flower receptacle. This plant was first described under the name Oxystylis lutea in 1845, and was placed in the monotypic genus Oxystylis. It was renamed Cleomella oxystyloides in 2015, and reclassified into the genus Cleomella.
