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.

Elongated capsules contain the seeds, which are dark brown to black, curved, and have a wart-like appearance.

[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).

[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.