Cleome viscosa
L., Sp. Pl. 672. 1753; Hook. f. & Thomson in Fl. Brit. India 1:
170. 1872.
Beng.: Hade-hurhuria; Guj.: Tinnani; Hindi: Bagra, Karphut Pilahurshur; Kan.:
Kadusassive, Kanphuti Nayibela; Mar.: Pivili-tilwan; Punj.: Bugra, Higul; Raj.: Bagro,
Handi-bagro; Tam.: Manja-kadugu, Naikadugu, Naivelai; Tel.: Thirudi-bhaji (Gonds
tribals).
Herbs, annual, erect, up to 1.2 m high, viscid, clothed with glandular or non-glandular hairs, foetid; stems woody, sparsely branched from base, striated, tomentose. Leaves 3 - 5 (-7)- foliolate; petioles striated, up to 7 cm long at base, decreasing upwards, hairy; leaflets subsessile, subequal, elliptic-oblong or obovate to spathulate, entire, cuneate at base, acute or rarely obtuse at apex, ciliate along margins, 6 - 45 x 2 - 25 cm, membranous, glandular pubescent; lateral nerves 3 - 8 pairs; petioles 1 - 3 mm long. Racemes lax, few-flowered, corymbiform, leafy, up to 30 cm long; flowers often solitary and axillary at lower portion of racemes, ephemeral, 1 - 1.5 cm across; bracts subsessile, foliaceous; pedicels 6 - 12 mm long, elongating up to 4 cm in fruits. Sepals 4, oblong, lanceolate, acute at apex, 5 - 12 x 2 - 4 mm, reddish at base, glabrous inside, glandular hairy outside. Petals 4, subequal, obovate or oblanceolate to oblong-spathulate, cuneate with up to 6 mm long claw at base, rounded at tip, 8 - 12 (-25) x 3 - 5 (-10) mm, orange-yellow, yellow, creamy or rarely white, glabrous, distinctly veined. Stamens (8-) 12 - 40, often intermixed with staminodes, glabrous; filaments 4 - 8 (-20) mm long, distinctly broadened at tip; anthers linear, 1.5 - 2.8 mm long, bluish. Ovary sessile, oblong-cylindric or linear-oblong, beaked, 6 - 8 (-14) mm long, minutely glandular-hairy; style slender, up to 10 mm long, puberulous; stigma capitate. Capsules erect, or sometimes curved, on 2 - 3 cm long pedicels, obliquely striate, terete, linear-oblong, slightly compressed, tapering at both ends, beaked, 4 - 9 (-12) cm long, 3 - 5 mm thick; beak 4 - 20 mm long; valves centripetally nerved; seeds many, reniform, subglobose, finely centrically ribbed and transversely ridged, 1 - 1.5 mm across, closed at cleft with very narrow opening, glabrous, reddish brown to black.
Herbs, annual, erect, up to 1.2 m high, viscid, clothed with glandular or non-glandular hairs, foetid; stems woody, sparsely branched from base, striated, tomentose. Leaves 3 - 5 (-7)- foliolate; petioles striated, up to 7 cm long at base, decreasing upwards, hairy; leaflets subsessile, subequal, elliptic-oblong or obovate to spathulate, entire, cuneate at base, acute or rarely obtuse at apex, ciliate along margins, 6 - 45 x 2 - 25 cm, membranous, glandular pubescent; lateral nerves 3 - 8 pairs; petioles 1 - 3 mm long. Racemes lax, few-flowered, corymbiform, leafy, up to 30 cm long; flowers often solitary and axillary at lower portion of racemes, ephemeral, 1 - 1.5 cm across; bracts subsessile, foliaceous; pedicels 6 - 12 mm long, elongating up to 4 cm in fruits. Sepals 4, oblong, lanceolate, acute at apex, 5 - 12 x 2 - 4 mm, reddish at base, glabrous inside, glandular hairy outside. Petals 4, subequal, obovate or oblanceolate to oblong-spathulate, cuneate with up to 6 mm long claw at base, rounded at tip, 8 - 12 (-25) x 3 - 5 (-10) mm, orange-yellow, yellow, creamy or rarely white, glabrous, distinctly veined. Stamens (8-) 12 - 40, often intermixed with staminodes, glabrous; filaments 4 - 8 (-20) mm long, distinctly broadened at tip; anthers linear, 1.5 - 2.8 mm long, bluish. Ovary sessile, oblong-cylindric or linear-oblong, beaked, 6 - 8 (-14) mm long, minutely glandular-hairy; style slender, up to 10 mm long, puberulous; stigma capitate. Capsules erect, or sometimes curved, on 2 - 3 cm long pedicels, obliquely striate, terete, linear-oblong, slightly compressed, tapering at both ends, beaked, 4 - 9 (-12) cm long, 3 - 5 mm thick; beak 4 - 20 mm long; valves centripetally nerved; seeds many, reniform, subglobose, finely centrically ribbed and transversely ridged, 1 - 1.5 mm across, closed at cleft with very narrow opening, glabrous, reddish brown to black.
KEY TO THE VARIETIES
| 1a. Stamens 36 - 40; styles 5 - 8 mm long in flower, elongating to 20 mm long in fruits | 15.1. nagarjunakondensis |
| b. Stamens 12 - 18; styles 1 - 3.5 mm long in flower, 4 - 5 mm long in fruits | 15.2. viscosa |
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