# Rocky Mountain Beeplant (*cleomella serrulata*) The Rocky Mountain Beeplant is a striking, fast-growing annual wildflower native to western North America. Renowned for its tall, upright stalks topped with clusters of showy, pink-to-purple flowers, it is an ecological beacon for native pollinators, especially bumblebees and butterflies. Historically, this resilient plant held immense cultural and practical value for Indigenous peoples, including the Navajo and Ancestral Puebloans, who used it as a rich source of food, medicine, and deep-black pottery dye. Today, it stands as a vital ecological cornerstone of the shortgrass prairie and arid foothills, helping to stabilize sandy soils and kickstart plant succession in disturbed areas. Its unique, spidery blooms and long, drooping seed pods make it an unmistakable and beloved sight of the American West. - **Category:** [Plants](https://www.snappit.app/explore/categories/plant) - **Rarity:** Common - **Danger:** 1/5 · Very low - **Snaps:** 1 - **Habitat:** Found in sandy plains, roadsides, disturbed areas, and open grasslands of western North America. ![Rocky Mountain Beeplant](https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/206644253/medium.jpg) Photo: Mike Duran, CC BY 4.0 · [iNaturalist](https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/206644253) ## Appearance This plant typically grows 30 to 150 cm tall, featuring an erect, branched stem covered in trifoliate leaves with lance-shaped leaflets. The most distinctive feature is its terminal, rounded flower cluster displaying vibrant pink, lavender, or occasionally white petals. Each flower has long, dramatic stamens that protrude far beyond the petals, giving the bloom a delicate, spidery appearance. As the flowers fade, they are replaced by narrow, elongated, dangling green seed pods measuring up to 8 cm in length, suspended on thin stalks. ## Taxonomy - **Kingdom:** Plantae - **Phylum:** Tracheophyta - **Class:** Magnoliopsida - **Order:** Brassicales - **Family:** Cleomaceae - **Genus:** Cleomella ## Interesting facts - Despite its common name, it is not closely related to true beeplants in the mint family, but belongs to the cleome family, allied with mustard plants. - Historically used by the Ancestral Puebloans to make a thick, dark concentrate used as paint for their iconic black-on-white pottery. - Its seeds can remain dormant in dry soil for years, waiting for the perfect rainfall conditions to sprout in massive numbers. - The young shoots and leaves can be boiled and eaten as greens, a practice traditional to Navajo and Pueblo cultures. ## Special abilities - **Pollinator Magnet:** Produces exceptionally sweet, abundant nectar that draws a highly diverse array of native bees, wasps, and butterflies. - **Drought Resilience:** Employs a deep taproot system and efficient cellular water-use strategies to thrive in arid, sandy soils with minimal rainfall. - **Pest Deterrent:** Synthesizes glucosinolates and aromatic compounds in its tissues to ward off generalist herbivores and insect pests. ## Measurements & details - **Length:** 30-150 cm - **Lifespan:** 1 years ## Diet & Feeding Produces its own energy from sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide through the process of photosynthesis, supplemented by minerals absorbed through soil roots. - **Primary Foods:** Sunlight, Carbon dioxide, Water, Soil minerals ## Ecological connections - **Mutualism:** Hunt's Bumblebee (*Bombus huntii*) — Provides essential nectar and pollen, receiving crucial pollination services in return. - **Host plant:** Checkered White Butterfly (*Pontia protodice*) — Serves as a larval host plant, where caterpillars feed on the foliage. - **Mutualism:** Western Honey Bee (*Apis mellifera*) — Frequently visited by honey bees seeking to collect nectar for honey production. ## Safety **Danger:** 1/5 · Very low No special safety notes yet. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How to identify Rocky Mountain Beeplant? Start with the whole plant, then compare leaf arrangement, leaf edges, stems and any flowers or fruit. Opposite leaves grow in pairs; alternate leaves come one at a time along the stem. These details tell you far more together than a single green leaf does. Plant Identifier: upload a photo and compare the visible details. ### How long is Rocky Mountain Beeplant? 30-150 cm ### How long does Rocky Mountain Beeplant live? 1 years ### What does Rocky Mountain Beeplant eat? Produces its own energy from sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide through the process of photosynthesis, supplemented by minerals absorbed through soil roots. ### Where is Rocky Mountain Beeplant usually found? Found in sandy plains, roadsides, disturbed areas, and open grasslands of western North America. ## Where to spot - [Leadville Historic District](https://www.snappit.app/guides/places/leadville-historic-district) — Colorado, US · Historic District - [Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve](https://www.snappit.app/guides/places/great-sand-dunes-national-park-and-preserve) — Colorado, US · National Park ## More Plants - [white snakeroot](https://www.snappit.app/explore/white-snakeroot) (*Ageratina altissima*) - [tree-of-heaven](https://www.snappit.app/explore/tree-of-heaven) (*Ailanthus altissima*) - [western sword fern](https://www.snappit.app/explore/western-sword-fern) (*Polystichum munitum*) - [common milkweed](https://www.snappit.app/explore/common-milkweed) (*Asclepias syriaca*) --- Source: [Rocky Mountain Beeplant: Facts & Places to See — Snappit](https://www.snappit.app/explore/rocky-mountain-beeplant)