YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK 39 



(red) (yellow) 



BEE PLANT STONECROP 



Rocky Mountain Bee Plant (Cleome). This is 

 one of the most common roadside plants, especially in 

 open, gravelly soils at the lower levels. It has a cen- 

 tral stem a foot or two high, with several loose branch- 

 es, each ending in a flower-cluster. The leaves are 

 compound, with three moderately long, narrow, point- 

 ed parts. The magenta flowers, each with four petals, 

 are grouped into a dense, round-topped cluster. The 

 lower flowers in the group blossom earliest, so that 

 before the last buds in the center have opened the long, 

 drooping green seed-pods have begun to develop. 

 Blossoming begins early in July and lasts until frost. 



Stonecrop (Sedwn). The stonecrop is one of the 

 most peculiar plants in this region, in its adaptatiou 

 to, and indeed apparent preference for, extreme desert 

 conditions. It is found only in the most arid situa- 

 tions. A favorite habitat is the face of some bare, hot 

 rock, with only a spoonful of earth in a crevice to af- 

 ford a roothold. The flat-lying stems are round and 

 fleshy, and the many small, peg-shaped, pointed leaves 

 are thick and fleshy also. The flower-stems are about 

 three inches high, dividing near the top and bearing a 

 compact, flat-topped cluster of bright yellow flowers. 



