stxflora

Chamaecrista fasciculata

Family: Fabaceae

Plant Description: Annual with erect to spreading reddish stems 20-90 cm long. Leaves pinnate, alternate, the leaflets 5-15 mm long. Flowers mostly solitary or paired. Petals 8-20 mm long, yellow, four of them with a dark basal spot. Fruit a legume, brown or reddish, slightly curved.

Field Identification: Meter high Summer – Fall annual pea bush with copious 1 cm wie yellow flowers.

Plant Trivia::

Occurrence: Common to sandy soils in prairies, openings, waste places, and dunes along the coast.

Bloom Period: June – December

Plant Use: Host plant for cloudless sulphur and little yellow butterflies.

Key to the Genus Chamaecrista:

1. Stems woody………………………………………………………………………………C. greggii

              Stems not woody………………………………………………………………………………………2

          2. Peduncles 2.5-4 cm long……………………………………………………….C. flexuosa

              Peduncles 2 cm long or less……………………………………………………………………3

          3. Stems with mixed long spreading hairs and short curved hairs.    …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. C. calyciodes

             Stems with short close-pressed hairs or nearly glabrous …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………C. fasciclata