Cleome

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Cleome

Cleome hassleriana in Kerala, India

Scientific classification
Kingdom:

Plantae

(unranked):

Angiosperms

(unranked):

Eudicots

(unranked):

Rosids

Order:

Brassicales

Family:

Cleomaceae

Genus:

Cleome
L.

Species
See text

Cleome chelidonii at Pocharamlake, Andhra Pradesh, India.

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[show]Cross-eye view ( )
Cleome seeds resemble snail shells

Cleome is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cleomaceae. Previously it had been placed in
family Capparaceae, until DNA studies found the Cleomaceae genera to be more closely related
to Brassicaceae than Capparaceae. The APG II system[1] allows forCleome and the other members of
Cleomaceae to be included in Brassicaceae.
The genus sensu stricto includes about 170 species of herbaceous annual or perennial
plants and shrubs.[2] The genus has asubcosmopolitan distribution throughout the tropical and warm
temperate regions of the world.[2] However a recent DNA study failed to
separate Cleome, Podandrogyne and Polanisia from each other, so some taxonomists have abandoned
the last two of these genera, treating them as part of Cleome sensu lato; in this case Cleome contains
about 275 species, the vast majority of the Cleomaceae.

As a genus it contains species which show a developmental progression

from C3 photosynthesis to C4 photosynthesis. This combined with its being a Brassicaceae (and
therefore closely related to the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana) make it an ideal genus in which
to study how C4 photosynthesis occurs and how it evolved. Morphological differences that demonstrate
the transition from C3 to C4 include C3 species having more veins and larger bundle sheath cells. There
are also proteins present in species such as Cleome gynandra which are needed for C4 photosynthesis.[3]
Species of Cleome are commonly known as spider flowers, spider plants, spider weeds, or bee
plants.[4][5]
Contents
[hide]

1 Selected species

2 Cultivation and uses

3 Gallery of Cleome species

4 References

Selected species[edit]