Cleome spinosa

This plant is an upright herb native from southern Mexico through tropical America. Its stems and leaves bear glandular hairs, and sharp spines may occur beside the leaf stalks. The leaves are divided into several narrow leaflets arranged like the fingers of a hand. Terminal flower clusters have four white to pale purple petals and six long, projecting stamens. The ovary is carried above the flower on a slender stalk, which lengthens as the narrow, cylindrical seed capsule develops. The species grows in disturbed ground, along roadsides, and near rivers and lagoons. Photographed in Atlántico, Colombia.