Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - Sensitive partridge pea

SENSITIVE PARTRIDGE PEA

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Chamaecrista nictitans (L. ) Moench

Cherokee County, Kansas

Annual

Height: 4-16 inches

Family: Fabaceae - Bean Family

Flowering Period: August, September,October

Also Called:

Wild sensitive plant.

Stems:

Erect, slender, glabrous to minutely pubescent, usually branched; branches ascending to widely spreading.

Leaves:

Alternate, short-stalked, once even-pinnately compound, .8 to 2.4 inches long; leaflets 6-22 pairs, narrowly oblong, 1/4 to 3/5 inch long, 1/25 to 1/8 inch wide, usually glabrous; margins fringed; tip rounded with bristle; stipules persistent, linear-lanceolate, 1/6 to 1/3 inch long, tapering to point.

Inflorescences:

Solitary flower or 2-3 clustered in leaf axils.

Flowers:

Inconspicuous; stalk 1/12 to 1/6 inch long, minutely pubescent; sepals 5, united near base, lanceolate, 1/8 to 1/5 inch long, minutely pubescent; petals 5, yellow, unequal, 1/8 to 1/3 inch long, lowest petal twice as long as others; stamens 5, unequal; filaments very short; anthers pink to rose. Flowers tend to wilt by mid-day.

Fruits:

Pod, erect, straight or slightly curved, linear-oblong, .8 to 1.6 inch long, 1/8 to 1/4 inch wide, flat, minutely pubescent or smooth, mostly 5- to 10-seeded; seeds nearly square, about 1/8 inch, black, shiny.

Habitat:

Open rocky woods and thickets, upland slopes, prairies, roadsides, fallow fields, disturbed areas; dry sandy or rocky soils.

Distribution:

Southeast 1/8 of Kansas

Origin:

Native

Toxicity:

The fruits and seeds may cause mild digestive tract irritation when consumed in large quantities.

Forage Value:

Seeds eaten by turkeys and bobwhite quail. Foliage eaten by cattle and sheep.

Uses:

Native Americans used the plant in a compound infusion to treat faintness and the roots were used medicinally to enhance stamina when competing in sport games.

Comments:

The leaflets are touch sensitive. From Latin nicto "to wink", alluding to the touch sensitive nature of the leaflets.

Sensitive partridge pea flowers