Cleome gynandra L. (Cleomaceae)

Scientific name
Cleome gynandra L.
Family name
Cleomaceae
Common name
Spider flower (English); fu-choso (Japanese)
Local name
Phak sian
Erect annual herb, up to 1 m tall. Stem branched, with dense glandular hairs. Leaves alternate, palmately compound, with 5 leaflets; lowest and upper leaves with 3 leaflets; petioles 2–10 cm long; petiolules 1–3 mm; leaflets obovate to lanceolate, 2–8 × 1–3.5 cm; base narrowly cuneate, apex obtuse to short-acuminate, margin ciliate to denticulate. Inflorescence terminal racemes. Flowers 4-merous, white; pedicel 1.5–2.5 cm long. Sepal free, ovate to lanceolate, 2.5–6 × 0.5–2 mm. Petals elliptical to obovate, 7–15 × 1.5–4 mm, including a slender craw, 1.5–5 mm long; androgynophore 9–16 mm long. Stamens 6; anther purple. Ovary on gynophore, 1–2 mm long, accrescent to 10 mm in fruit. Fruit a capsule, cylindrical, 2–11 × 3–6 mm, on pedicel 1–3 cm long, with beak 1–4 mm long, splitting from below into 2 valves. Seeds numerous, globular, c. 1 mm in diameter, dark brown, irregularly ribbed.
Traditional medicinal use
Functionality
Functional constituents
Commonly found growing as a weed along roadsides or in abandoned fields at elevations up to 1000 m a.s.l. Increasingly cultivated in recent years for fruit pickling, particularly at large scales in north-eastern provinces of Thailand. Propagated by seed sowing on well-prepared beds; spacing of seeds or transplanted seedlings within and between rows should be 20–30 × 20–30 cm. Young shoots and young inflorescences are harvested during the rainy season.
Young shoots, leaves, and flowers are fermented in salt water and served with nam phrik (dipping sauces). Leaves are also eaten in sparerib soup. Contains 3–9 mg protein, 250 mg calcium, 10 mg iron, and 131 mg vitamin C per 100-g serving.
Caution:  Fresh plants contain hydrocyanic acid, which is toxic to the central nervous system; toxicity can be reduced by cooking, drying, or fermentation.
Plants
Flowers