In 1814, Frederick Traugott Pursh described this species in the first volume of Flora Americae Septentrionalis,[8] based upon specimens collected by the Lewis and Clark Expedition near the Vermillion River in South Dakota.

[9][10] In the first volume of Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis in 1824, Augustin Pyramus de Candolle moved this species to a genus which he named Peritoma (replacing the earlier illegitimate name Atalanta Nuttall[11]), and calling the species Peritoma serrulatum.

[3] Cleomella serrulata is an annual plant growing to 10–150 cm (4–59 in) tall, with spirally arranged leaves.

[20] This species is often found in disturbed lands—such as roadsides, open woods, mountain foothills, and prairies.

[7][9][10] It grows in a wide range of pH levels and prefers mild shade or full sun while being drought tolerant.

It is often found with the following species: Pascopyrum smithii (western wheatgrass), Pseudoroegneria spicata (bluebunch wheatgrass), Koeleria macrantha (prairie Junegrass), Poa secunda (Sandberg bluegrass), Gaillardia aristata (common gaillardia), Artemisia tridentata (big sagebrush), and Ratibida columnifera (prairie coneflower).

[7][22][23] Among the Zuni, the leaves gathered in large quantities and hung indoors to dry for winter use.

[26] In traditional Native American and frontier medicine, an infusion of the plant is used to treat stomach troubles and fevers, and poultices made from it can be used on the eyes.

[7][27] As a dye, the plant can be boiled down until it is reduced to a thick, black syrup; this was used as a binder in pigments for painting black-on-white pottery at least as long ago as 900-1300 by the Ancestral Puebloans.