Rocky Mountain beeweed
As if to corroborate the common name Rocky mountain beeweed, I found a native bee on these flowers of Cleome serrulata at Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument in northern New Mexico on June 12th. An online article about this species notes that other vernacular names for the plant are stinking-clover, bee spider-flower, skunk weed, Navajo spinach, and guaco. This wildflower is a relative of the clammyweed that grows in Austin.
© 2017 Steven Schwartzman
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Lovely! 👍
Indira
August 20, 2017 at 4:58 AM
Quite a different treat from the Tent Rocks I’d gone to see.
Steve Schwartzman
August 20, 2017 at 5:49 AM
It’s always a joy when the namesake is present. And more eye-pleasing than a skunk being on it. Lovely photo, Steve.
Jet Eliot
August 20, 2017 at 7:56 AM
I’m with you in preferring a bee near me rather than a skunk. I don’t know about eye-pleasing, but the bee is definitely more nose-pleasing.
Steve Schwartzman
August 20, 2017 at 8:21 AM
I love a flower that just keeps coming, as this looks like it is going to do. Lovely.
melissabluefineart
August 20, 2017 at 8:08 AM
I like the way you put it: a flower that just keeps coming.
I see that this species has been attested in Cook County, Illinois. Perhaps it’s coming to a field near you.
Steve Schwartzman
August 20, 2017 at 8:48 AM
Oh I hope so. The purists around here get all bent out of shape about new species but I think, with the planet warming, we should welcome any species that can thrive in new conditions.
melissabluefineart
August 21, 2017 at 8:55 AM
Even without human intervention, native species have often expanded their range. Every genetic mutation must have started with a single plant, which occupies the smallest possible native range.
Steve Schwartzman
August 21, 2017 at 9:04 AM
The green anthers and purple filaments just knock me out. That is one beautiful flower. It reminds me of blue curls, probably because of the long stamens. I remembered reading about a bird called a guaco, and found this interesting long paragraph about both the bird and various vine-like plants of Central and South America. It’s interesting that Humboldt is mentioned, too.
shoreacres
August 20, 2017 at 8:18 AM
Hey, I hope you’ve recovered from getting knocked out. I confirmed that this species does make it into Texas, though only the Panhandle. Marshall Enquist includes a species of Cleomella, but only in San Saba County.
Is this the article you had in mind?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guaco
I see that the name guaco is also used for a species of Mikania. We have a different species of that vine in Texas:
https://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/2011/11/07/mikania-scandens/
Steve Schwartzman
August 20, 2017 at 9:13 AM
Oh, whoops. Here’s the link I meant to leave.
shoreacres
August 20, 2017 at 9:16 AM
I see from your link that some Spanish speakers also use guaco for a species of Aristolochia. In central Texas we have Aristolochia erecta, known as swanflower or grassleaf pipevine:
https://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/2014/06/14/one-strange-flower/
The word guaco has nothing to do with guacamole.
Steve Schwartzman
August 20, 2017 at 9:46 AM
The possibility of a guacamole/guaco link occurred to me, but I dissuaded myself.
shoreacres
August 20, 2017 at 9:49 AM
Wasn’t there a song called “Friendly Dissuasion“?
Guaco is from a South American Indian language. Guacamole is from a compound of two Aztec words, the first of which has become aguacate in Spanish and avocado in English.
Steve Schwartzman
August 20, 2017 at 9:57 AM
I grow cleome here .. not sure if it is the same variety, the green shield beetles love it!
Julie@frogpondfarm
August 22, 2017 at 2:19 PM
I just looked and found there are about 50 species in the genus Cleome, so the one you grow there is unlikely to be this one. I don’t know whether New Mexico has green shield beetles, and if so, whether they love Cleome.
Steve Schwartzman
August 22, 2017 at 4:16 PM
Wonderful pic Steve …
Julie@frogpondfarm
August 22, 2017 at 2:20 PM
Thanks, Julie. It’s hard to miss with a flower like this.
Steve Schwartzman
August 22, 2017 at 4:17 PM
Beautiful flower and cue the bee!!
norasphotos4u
August 24, 2017 at 7:18 AM
They say “Be there or be square” but I’ll say “Bee here and be round.”
Steve Schwartzman
August 24, 2017 at 7:25 AM