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Cleome viscosa
Cleomaceae FAMILY

Cleome viscosa

Cleome viscosa

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitAnnual
Growth—

Prefers a light fertile soil in a warm dry sunny position with plenty of room to spread[1]. A frost tender plant, it can be grown as a summer annual in Britain[1].

Propagation

Seed - surface sow or only lightly cover the seed in spring in a greenhouse[2]. The seed usually germinates in 5 - 14 days at 25°c[2]. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in late spring. Day time temperatures below 20°c depress germination but a night time fall to 20° is necessary[2]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Cleome+viscosa>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  2. [2]Growing from Seed. Volume 4. — Bird. R. (Editor) · Thompson and Morgan. · 1990 · ISBN - ↩︎Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. A good article on Yuccas, one on Sagebrush (Artemesia spp) and another on Chaerophyllum bulbosum.
  3. [3]Plants and People of Nepal — Manandhar. N. P. · Timber Press. Oregon. · 2002 · ISBN 0-88192-527-6 ↩︎Excellent book, covering over 1,500 species of useful plants from Nepal together with information on the geography and peoples of Nepal. Good descriptions of the plants with terse notes on their uses.
  4. [4]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  5. [5]Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). — Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. · Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. · 1986 · ISBN - ↩︎Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.