Wildflower (forb) · Capparaceae
Rocky Mountain beeplant
Cleome serrulata
Rocky Mountain beeplant is recorded as native to 20 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 340 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Rocky Mountain beeplant at a glance
- Native in
- 340 counties, across 20 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 12b PLANTS minimum temperature 52°F
- Mature height
- 3 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 12b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of 52°F; zone 12b winters bottom out at 55°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Rocky Mountain beeplant is recorded as native to 20 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 340 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 340 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Arizona 7 counties
- California 6 counties
- Colorado 40 counties
- Idaho 20 counties
- Iowa 6 counties
- Kansas 46 counties
- Minnesota 3 counties
- Missouri 3 counties
- Montana 33 counties
- Nebraska 31 counties
- Nevada 11 counties
- New Mexico 16 counties
- North Dakota 32 counties
- Oklahoma 5 counties
- Oregon 5 counties
- South Dakota 14 counties
- Texas 5 counties
- Utah 29 counties
- Washington 9 counties
- Wyoming 19 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Annual
- Mature height
- 3 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Single Crown
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 13 to 55 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 6 to 7.6
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 8 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- 52°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 12b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 70
- Fire tolerance
- None
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Red
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Black
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Contracting Only
- Family
- Capparaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- CLSE
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Cleome serrulata (PLANTS symbol CLSE).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources