3. Tarenaya Rafinesque, Sylva Tellur. 111. 1838.
醉蝶花属 zui die hua shu
Cleome sect. Tarenaya (Rafinesque) Iltis.
Herbs [or shrubs], annual [or perennial], sparsely branched, glabrous or glandular pubescent. Stipular thorns present [or absent]. Leaves alternate, spirally arranged, palmately compound, ± prickly; petiole spiny, with pulvinus at basal or distal end; leaflets [1 or]3-7[-11]; petiolule bases connate forming a pulvinar disk; leaflet blades lanceolate to oblanceolate, margin entire or serrulate. Inflorescences terminal or axillary from apical leaves, racemose or sometimes flat-topped or elongated, 10-80-flowered, elongating in fruit; bract present [or absent] at base of pedicels. Flowers slightly zygomorphic. Sepals 4, equal, each often subtending a basal nectary. Petals 4, equal, distinct. Stamens 6; filaments inserted on a discoid or conical receptacle (androgynophore). Gynophore slender, elongating and recurving in fruit; carpel 1; style short, thick; stigma 1, capitate. Fruit an oblong capsule, dehiscent. Seeds 10-40 per capsule, reniform, not arillate; cleft fused between 2 ends of seed.
About 33 species: tropical W Africa and South America; one species (introduced) in China.
Traditionally included in a broad Linnaean circumscription of Cleome, Tarenaya is distinguished by its stipular thorns, petiolar spines, lack of arils, and seeds with a large cleft cavity. All species are native to tropical America, with the exception of one species in tropical W Africa. Tarenaya hassleriana is a popular garden subject and probably the most widely distributed member of the family, having been introduced worldwide in tropical and warm-temperate regions.
