Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

CLAMMY-WEED

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Polanisia dodecandra (L. ) DC. subsp. trachysperma (T. & G. ) Iltis

Russell County, Kansas

Annual

Height: 8-32 inches

Family: Capparaceae - Caper Family

Flowering Period: June, July, August, September

Stems:

Erect, usually single, much-branched, sticky-hairy.

Leaves:

Alternate, stalked, palmately 3-foliolate; leaflets oblanceolate, .75 to 1.75 inch long, .25 to .75 wide, sticky-hairy; margins entire; upper leaves reduced.

Inflorescences:

Racemes, short, terminal.

Flowers:

To .5 inch long, long-stalked; sepals 4, lanceolate, purplish; petals 4, obovate to spatulate, 1/3 to 2/3 inch long, white or sometimes purple-tinged; tips usually notched; stamens 10-20, filaments thread-like, .5 to 1.25 inch long, pink to purplish, projecting well past petals.

Fruits:

Capsules, cylindric, 1 to 3 inches long; seeds many, reddish brown.

Habitat:

Bluffs, disturbed sites, waste areas, stream banks, and roadsides, on sandy or rocky soils.

Distribution:

Throughout Kansas.

Comments:

The name clammy-weed alludes to the glandular, sticky hairs that cover the plant. Touching the foliage gives the fingers a "clammy" feeling. Clammy-weed has a strong unpleasant odor.

Clammy-weed leaves