Rocky Mountain bee plant also known as stinkweed because of its ill-scented smell, or spiderflower.

• Annual that grows two to five feet in height.
• Inflorescence (flowering part of the plant) is four petals, usually bright pink-purplish in color or sometimes a white, six long and slender stamens (the male reproductive organ on a flower).
• Seed pods are three inches, hairy and hang downward on the stalk
• Leaves are alternate, palmate (lobed, veined, divided from a common point i.e. fingers from a hand) divided into three leaflets.
• Grows in sandy soils along roads, waste areas, meadows and rangelands.

Photo Credits: Sherry Skipper, USFWS

Bees and insects enjoy the rich nectar from the blossoms and the seeds often consumed by morning doves. When the leaves have matured, they are harvested, boiled and eaten as greens in ones diet. The seeds are edible and can be made into flour. A poultice is made of the crushed leaves and used to reduce swelling and boiled with a rusty iron to be made into a drink to treat anemia. Commonly used as a paint or dye, by extracting the pigment fro1/14/09n>

For a complete Refuge species list

For in-depth plant information
connect with the U.S. Dept Agriculture Plant Data Base

Last Updated: 1/14/09

Blooming Times On The Refuge

April-June: Sand lily

May-June: Ball cactus, Prickly pear

May-July: Scarlet butterfly weed, Prairie evening primrose, Blanket flower, Low daisy

May-August: Blue flax, Wine cup

June-August: Rocky Mountain beeplant, Wavy leaved thistle, Blazing star

June-September: Prairie coneflower, Hairy golden aster, Evening star, Sunflower, Scarlet globemallow

July-September: Black eyed susan, Purple prairie aster

NORTHERN PRAIRIE WILDLIFE RESEARCH CENTER