Slender Sensitive Pea

Chamaecrista serpens (L.) Greene, Pittonia 4: 29. 1899
Cassia serpens L. Syst. ed. 10, 1018. 1759. Ophiocaulon serpens Raf. Sylva Tell. 129. 1838.
Stems slightly woody, very slender, prostrate, glabrous or puberulent, 1-4 dm. long. Leaves about 3 cm. long or shorter; stipules lanceolate, acuminate, few-nerved, 4—6 mm. long, petiolar gland small, filiform-stalked; leaflets 4—9 pairs, narrowly oblong-oblanceolate, membranous, glabrous, 4—8 mm. long, obtuse, mucronate, few-nerved, the costa much excentric; pedicels filiform, 1-2.5 cm. long; bractlets linear-lanceolate; sepals broadly lanceolate, acute, 4—5 mm. long, petals as long as the sepals or somewhat longer ; legume linear, sparingly pubescent, 1.5-2.5 cm. long, about 3 mm. wide, very short-tipped.
Type locality: Jamaica.
Distribution: Jamaica; Cuba; Mexico {ace. to Benthara) ; Guatemala; Colombia; Venezuela; Brazil.

Annual, Perennial, Herbs, Taproot present, Nodules present, Stems prostrate, trailing, or mat forming, Stems less than 1 m tall, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs glabrous or sparsely glabrate, Stems or young twigs sparsely to densely hairy, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Extrafloral nectary glands on petiole, Stipules conspicuous, Stipules green, triangulate to lanceolate 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 flow ers, 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 after dehiscence, Fruit glabrous or glabrate, Fruit hairy, Fruit 3-10 seeded, Seeds subquadrate, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black.