General: Bladderpod Spiderflower (Cleome isomeris) is an upright shrub growing to about 5-feet tall with stiff stems. The leaves are palmate with three leaflets. The flowers are large with four yellow petals, and the stamens and pistil are held well beyond the petals. Fruits are pods with many small seeds.

Bladderpod is a common component of vegetation communities in sandy soils in the Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zone. Around Las Vegas, look for Bladderpod along roads in the Mojave National Preserve.

Family: Spiderplant (Cleomaceae). Formerly Caper (Capparaceae).

Other Names: Isomeris arborea.

Plant Form: Upright shrub.

Height: To about 5 feet.

Bark:

Stems: stiff.

Leaves: Palmate with three leaflets.

Flowers: Inflorescence: terminal raceme. Flowers: sepals green, fused; petals 4, yellow; stamens and pistil well exserted.

Seeds:

Habitat: Sandy and gravelly soils in washes and bajadas; also coastal hillsides.

Elevation: To about 4,000 feet.

Distribution: California, Nevada, and Arizona.

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