Cleome rutidosperma var. burmanni - Lesser Fringed Spider Flower

Lesser Fringed Spider Flower is an annual herb, erect, up to 50 cm high; stems much-branched, somewhat flattened, ribbed, clothed, with scattered soft 0.5-2.5 mm long prickles. Lower leaf-stalks 2.5-4 cm long upper smaller; leaflets 3-5, ovate to elliptic-lanceshaped, wedge-shaped and webbed at base, pointed, subpointed or subrounded at tip, faintly rounded toothed-minutely toothed along margins, 2-6 x 0.4-1.8 cm, membranous, hairless; leaflet-stalks up to 1 mm long. Flowers are white (rarely purple), in leaf-axils, solitary; flower-stalks 5-18 mm long, glandular hairy. Sepals are lanceshaped, tapering. Petals are elliptic-oblong, 2-4 x 0.8-1.2 mm. Flowers of the related species Fringed Spider Flower are much larger, with petals 8-12 mm long. Gynopbore short, 0.5-1.5 mm, elongating up to 4-7 mm after fertilisation; ovary 1.5-2 mm long, hairless. Capsules are linear, round, torulose, hairless, 3.5-4.5 cm long, 1-1.5 mm thick, narrowed at both ends, beaked.