Spectacle fruit facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Spectacle fruit |
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Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Brassicales |
| Family: | Cleomaceae |
| Genus: | Wislizenia Engelm. |
Wislizenia is a group of flowering plants. It includes three types, or species, that grow naturally in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. People often call these plants spectacle fruit or jackass clover.
For a long time, Wislizenia plants were thought to be part of the caper family, called Capparaceae. But more recently, scientists have moved them to a newer plant family called Cleomaceae.
Wislizenia plants grow upright and have many branches. They look like a low, bushy plant. They have many flower clusters called racemes. These racemes are covered with lots of small, yellow flowers.
The flowers have many thin, thread-like parts called stamens. These stamens make the flowers look like they are surrounded by a yellow cloud. The plant's special fruit looks like two hard, tan little nuts joined together. These nuts hold the seeds.
Even though the leaves of this plant are not good to eat for most animals, honeybees love its flowers! This makes Wislizenia a great plant for bees to collect nectar and make honey.
About the Name
The name Wislizenia comes from a botanist named Friedrich Adolph Wislizenus. He lived from 1810 to 1889. A botanist is a scientist who studies plants.
Friedrich Wislizenus was born in a town called Königsee in Germany. He moved to the United States in 1837. He spent a lot of time exploring the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. He wrote books about the plants and the people he met in these areas.
Types of Wislizenia
Today, scientists officially recognize three different types of Wislizenia plants. Some experts think these might just be slightly different versions of the same plant.
- Wislizenia californica Greene: This type grows in the San Joaquin Valley in California.
- Wislizenia palmeri A. Gray: You can find this plant in Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur in Mexico. It also grows in San Diego and Riverside Counties in California.
- Wislizenia refracta Engelm.: This type is found in Chihuahua and Sonora in Mexico. It also grows in the southwestern United States.
