Cleomella platycarpa

Golden bee plant

Family: Cleomaceae · Type: annual · Native

Golden bee plant is a California native annual found in the Shasta Valley and Modoc Plateau in alkaline clay soils and volcanic tuff areas of dry foothills and sagebrush scrub at elevations of 1,200 to 1,500 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces golden yellow flowers with oblong petals 6 to 12 millimeters long. Growing 1 to 6 decimeters tall with green and purple densely branched stems that are glandular-hairy, it has a distinctive spreading habit. Its leaves feature three leaflets, each 1 to 3.5 centimeters long, ranging from ovate to obovate in shape. The plant develops oblong capsule fruits 12 to 25 millimeters long that are slightly flattened and covered in fine hairs.

Habitat: Alkaline, clay soils, volcanic tuff, dry foothills, often sagebrush scrub

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: 1200-1500 m

Bioregions: CaRH (Shasta Valley), MP

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.