Cleome, Linneaus, 1753

Roalson, Eric H., 2021, A revised synonymy, typification, and key to species of Cleome sensu stricto (Cleomaceae), Phytotaxa 496 (1), pp. 54-68 : 56-57

Key to Cleome s.s.

1. Leaves compound, 3-foliolate ...........................................................................................................................................................2.

1. Leaves simple ..................................................................................................................................................................................16.

2. Fruits> 4 mm wide; seeds villous......................................................................................................................................................3.

2. Fruits <4 mm wide; seeds villous or papillate...................................................................................................................................5.

3. Fruits pendulous ................................................................................................................................................................................4.

3. Fruits erect to erect-spreading ........................................................................................................ C. socotrana Balfour (1882: 501)

4. Petals 3–4 mm long; fruits oblong............................................................................................ C. amblyocarpa Barratte & Murbeck

4. Petals 4–8 mm long; fruits linear................................................................................. C. ramosissima Parlatore ex Webb (1854: 22)

5. Seeds villous (sometimes pubescence very short).............................................................................................................................6.

5. Seeds papillate...................................................................................................................................................................................8.

6. Fruits pendulous ........................................................................................................................... C. ramosissima Parlatore ex Webb

6. Fruits erect to erect-spreading ...........................................................................................................................................................7.

7. Leaves glaucous (usually also with noticeable glands, at least along margin); pedicels glabrous; petals 3–4 mm long; seeds with long hairs .............................................................................................. C. omanensis (Chamberlain & Lamond) Thulin (2003: 217)

7. Leaves green (not glaucous); pedicels glandular; petals ca. 5 mm long; seeds with short hairs, often with glabrous patches ........... ................................................................................................................................................... C. hadramautica Thulin (2003: 216)

8. Fruits linear, very long, reaching 11 cm; upper petals white (or slightly yellowish) on upper half, clearly differentiated by coloration from lateral petals; veins clearly evident on petals ............................................................................................ C. violacea Linnaeus

8. Fruits linear, but no more than 4 cm long; petals white or yellow to pink or purple, but all petals of similar coloration; veins evident or not on petals ..................................................................................................................................................................................9.

9. Petal blades obovate to oblong with a distinct narrowly linear claw ..............................................................................................10.

9. Petal blades spatulate to linear, but without a distinct narrowly linear claw...................................................................................12.

10. Fruits spreading; gynophore 2.5–10 mm long; sepals triangular-lanceolate; glabrous or with few glands......................................... ........................................................................................................................................................................ C. stevensiana Schultes

10. Fruits pendulous; gynophore 0.5–2(– 3 mm) long; sepals lanceolate or oblong; variable in the presence of glands......................11.

11. Sepals lanceolate, acuminate; ± densely clothed with glands .............................................................. C. ornithopodioides Linnaeus

11. Sepals oblong, obtuse, or acuminate; glabrous or with few glands...................................................................... C. iberica Candolle

12. Leaflets linear to narrow linear-elliptic .................................................................................................. C. ariana Hedge & Lamond

12. Leaflets obovate to broadly elliptic to +/- circular ..........................................................................................................................13.

13. Style up to 0.5 mm long; sepals c. 1 mm long ........................................................... C. khorassanica Bunge & Bienert ex Boissier

13. Style 1.5–5 mm long; sepals 3–4 mm long .....................................................................................................................................14.

14. Fruits 10–17 mm long ........................................................................................................................................ C. foliolosa Candolle

14. Fruits (20–) 28–40 mm long.............................................................................................................................................................15.

15. Annual; upper leaves 3-foliolate; style in fruit (1.5–) 3–5 mm long................................ C. heratensis Bunge & Bienert ex Boissier

15. Perennial, small shrub; upper leaves often unifoliate; style in fruit <1 mm long or absent................................................................. ........................................................................................................................................... C. pakistanica (Jafri) Khatoon & Perveen

16. Leaves tomentose, particularly on young material..........................................................................................................................17.

16. Leaves not tomentose ......................................................................................................................................................................18.

17. Flowers in rather dense racemes; filaments much elongated, 2–3 times as long as petals; gynophores 1.5–1.8 cm long................... ............................................................................................................................................................................. C. gordjagini Popov

17. Flowers in very loose racemes, occupying a large part of the stem; filaments elongated, slightly longer than petals; gynophores ca. 0.7–1 cm long ...................................................................................................................................................... C. turkmena Bobrov

18. Fruits 10–35 mm wide, for the most part inflated, indehiscent....................................................................... C. coluteoides Boissier (Note: If young and without fruits, the flowers are typically subtended by large, often spathulate bracts not found in other species.)

18. Fruits 3–10 mm wide, not inflated, dehiscent .................................................................................................................................19.

19. Fruits erect........................................................................................................................................................ C. albescens Franchet

19. Fruits pendant ..................................................................................................................................................................................20.

20. Fruits glabrous; plants glaucous (young upper stems and pedicels often glandular) ......................................................................21.

20. Fruits with dense sessile or stalked glands, plants rarely glaucous, typically glandular throughout ..............................................22.

21. Fruits 3–5 mm wide; sepals 1–2.5 mm long; petals acute to acuminate ........................................................... C. oxypetala Boissier

21. Fruits 5–10 mm wide; sepals 3–5 mm long; petals acute............................................................................. C. glaucescens Candolle

22. Plant covered in dense with long stalked glandular hairs; fruits 35–60 × 4–5(–8) mm...................................... C. arabica Linnaeus

22. Plant with sparse sessile or short stalked glands; fruits 25–50(–60) × (3–) 4–10 mm ............................................ C. rupicola Vicary