Texas Sensitive Pea

Chamaecrista flexuosa (L.) Greene, Pittonia 4: 27. 1899
Cassia flexuosal^.Sp. PI. 379. 1753.
Chamaecrista amplistipulala Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 267. 1909.
Cassia picachensis Brand. Univ. Calif. Publ. Bot. 6: 180. 1915.
Shrubby; stems erect, ascending or trailing, flc.vuous, glabrous, puberulent, rarely pubescent, slender, about 6 dm. long, or shorter. Stipules ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acute or acumi nate, semicordate, strongly several-nerved, 4—16 mm. long; petiole bearing 1 or 2 sessile, orbicular glands; leaflets 15-50 pairs, linear, coriaceous, glabrous, or rarely pubescent, obtuse or acutish, 2-4-nerved, 4-8 mm. long; pedicels 1-2.5 cm. long, minutely bracteolate above, glabrous, rarely pilose; sepals membranous, glabrous or pubescent, acute, 8-10 mm. long; larger petals 14-17 mm. long; legume linear, 3-6 cm. long, about 5 mm. wide, glabrous or finely pubescent.
Tvpi! uocAMTv: Brazil.
Distribution: Cuba; Jalisco and Oaxaca to Panama. Colombia, Dutch Guiana, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay

Perennial, Herbs, Stems woody below, or from woody crown or caudex, Taproot present, Nodules present, Stems erect or ascending, Stems or branches arching, spreading or decumbent, Stems less than 1 m tall, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs sparsely to densely hairy, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Extrafloral nectary glands on petiole, Stipules conspicuous, Stipules green, triangulate to lan ceolate or foliaceous, Stipules persistent, Stipules free, Leaves compound, Leaves even pinnate, Leaf or leaflet margins entire, Leaflets opposite, Leaflets 10-many, Leaves glabrous or nearly so, Flowers solitary in axils, or appearing solitary, Flowers in axillary clusters or few-floweredracemes, 2-6 flowers, Inflorescence axillary, Bracts very small, absent or caducous, Bracteoles present, Flowers actinomorphic or somewhat irregular, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx hairy, Petals separate, Petals clawed, Petals orange or yellow, Stamens 9-10, Stamens heteromorphic, graded in size, Stamens completely free, separate, Filaments glabrous, Anthers opening by basal or terminal pores or slits, Style terete, Fruit a legume, Fruit unilocular, Fruit freely dehiscent, Fruit elongate, straight, Fruit oblong or ellipsoidal, Fruit exserted from calyx, Fruit internally septate between the seeds, Fruit compressed between seeds, Fruit explosively or elastically dehiscent, Valves twisting or coiling a fter dehiscence, Fruit glabrous or glabrate, Fruit hairy, Fruit 3-10 seeded, Seeds subquadrate, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black.