Wild Sensitive Plant - Chamaecrista nictitans
Also going by the name Cassia nictitans, this is another new native plant for me.
A native, erect, arching annual to 24 inches tall, the leaves are alternate, pinnately compound, with 7-20 pairs of linear-oblong leaflets, to 0.4 inch long, that are light and touch sensitive. The flowers are yellow, about 0.5 inch wide, not pea-like, with 5 unequal petals and 5 stamens, usually solitary in the upper leaf axils. They are seen July-September.
Found open places with acidic soils in most of the eastern U.S. and throughout Tennessee and north Alabama (where it is considered common).
The species name nictitans means "blinking, moving," Both species and common names of Wild Sensitive Plant indicate that it is senstive to touch or disturbance and imply that the plant would react quickly. In fact, the name is deceptive, and the leaves react disappointly slowly to disturbance, eventually floating.
Patridge Pea - Chamaecrista fasciculata, is a more robust plant with larger, showier flowers and 10 stamens.
Source:
Horn, Cathcart, Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians.
Wild Sensitive Plant - Chamaecrista nictitans
Also going by the name Cassia nictitans, this is another new native plant for me.
A native, erect, arching annual to 24 inches tall, the leaves are alternate, pinnately compound, with 7-20 pairs of linear-oblong leaflets, to 0.4 inch long, that are light and touch sensitive. The flowers are yellow, about 0.5 inch wide, not pea-like, with 5 unequal petals and 5 stamens, usually solitary in the upper leaf axils. They are seen July-September.
Found open places with acidic soils in most of the eastern U.S. and throughout Tennessee and north Alabama (where it is considered common).
The species name nictitans means "blinking, moving," Both species and common names of Wild Sensitive Plant indicate that it is senstive to touch or disturbance and imply that the plant would react quickly. In fact, the name is deceptive, and the leaves react disappointly slowly to disturbance, eventually floating.
Patridge Pea - Chamaecrista fasciculata, is a more robust plant with larger, showier flowers and 10 stamens.
Source:
Horn, Cathcart, Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians.