Cleome lutea
| Cleome lutea | |
| Light: |  |
| Moisture: |   |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 4' |
| Blooms: | Mid Summer-Late Summer |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
 | |
Cleome lutea (common name: yellow spiderflower)
Propagation: Seed - surface sow or only lightly cover the seed in spring in a greenhouse[1]. The seed usually germinates in 5 - 14 days at 25°c[1]. 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[1].
Cultivation: Prefers a light fertile soil in a warm dry sunny position with plenty of room to spread[2][3].
A frost tender plant, it can be grown as a summer annual in Britain[3].
Range: Western N. America - Nebraska to Washington and Arizona.
Habitat: Sandy soils on desert plains to lower montane valleys, it is also found on sandy flatland[4].
Edibility: Young shoots - cooked[5].
Seed - ground into a meal and used as a flour[5].
Medicinal: The plant has been used to treat ant bites[6].
Usage: Yields a black dye[5]. No further details are given, but it is probably obtained by boiling down the whole plant[K].
Soil: Can grow in light and medium soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Also Known As: Peritoma aurea. P. luteum.
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Bird, Alfred. Growing from Seed Volume 4. Thompson and Morgan, 1990.
- ↑ Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ Hitchcock, Leo. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press, 1955.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Harrington, Harold. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press, 1967.
- ↑ Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.