Flora of North America species comparison

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Chamaecrista fasciculata

partridge pea, partridge sensitive-pea, showy partridgepea, sleepingplant
Habit Herbs, annual, rarely overwintering, to 1.4 m; roots not rhizomelike.
Stems

erect.
Leaves

2.5–11 cm;

petiole (2–)2.5–9 mm;

extrafloral nectary 1(–3), sessile or shortly stipitate;

leaflets (7 or)8–22(–26) pairs, blades linear-oblong, oblong, oblong-oblanceolate, or -elliptic, apex mucronulate to subacute, (5.5–)7–20(–23) × (1.3–)1.5–5(–6) mm.
Racemes

1–4(or 6)-flowered, supra-axillary.
Pedicels

(6–)8–22(–26) mm;

bracteoles distal to mid pedicel.
Flowers

calyx greenish, sepal venation reticulate;

corolla yellow, fading brown or orange, rarely whitish, 2–4 petals with reddish maculate at claw, to 10–23 mm;

stamens 10;

anthers all or some yellow, yellow and red-tipped, red, red-brown, or red-violet, to (5.5–)6–10.5 mm;

ovary often hairy, sometimes glabrous.
Legumes

straight or curved, linear-oblong, (3–)3.5–6.5(–10) × (25–)30–75(–85) mm.
Seeds

(2.8–)3.2–4.8(–6.3) mm.
2n

= 16.

Chamaecrista fasciculata
Phenology Flowering mid spring–early fall(–winter).
Habitat Open woods, fields, roadsides, inland and coastal dunes, coastal prairies, disturbed hardwood prairies, tallgrass prairies, sandy patches in shortgrass prairies, pine-savannas, usually in dry, sandy soils.
Elevation 0–1400 m. (0–4600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; ON
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[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Due to its high morphological variation, Chamaecrista fasciculata has been characterized by a history of shifting species and infraspecific taxonomic boundaries. Even its current definition is not satisfactory (H. S. Irwin and R. C. Barneby 1982), especially considering the high similarity (and probably very close relationship) with other partially sympatric species of Chamaecrista, such as C. chamaecristoides, which occurs in Texas, and C. deeringiana in the southeastern United States. Chamaecrista fasciculata also closely resembles C. nictitans but can be distinguished by its ovoid-acuminate floral buds, which are globose-ovoid in C. nictitans. Chamaecrista fasciculata is the first non-papilionoid legume to become a model species in genomics (S. R. Singer et al. 2009). It has been used to address research questions ranging from climate change (J. R. Etterson 2004) to specialized pollination biology (C. B. Fenster 1995) and ant-plant interactions (M. T. Rutter and M. D. Rauser 2004; R. S. Rios et al. 2008).

Cassia chamaecrista Linnaeus is a rejected name that pertains here.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Caesalpinioideae (excluding Mimosoid clade) > Chamaecrista
Sibling taxa
C. absus, C. calycioides, C. chamaecristoides, C. deeringiana, C. flexuosa, C. greggii, C. lineata, C. nictitans, C. pilosa, C. rotundifolia, C. serpens
Synonyms Cassia fasciculata, C. brachiata, C. chamaecrista var. robusta, C. depressa, C. fasciculata var. depressa, C. fasciculata var. ferrisiae, C. fasciculata var. macrosperma, C. fasciculata var. puberula, C. fasciculata var. robusta, C. fasciculata var. rostrata, C. mississippiensis, C. triflora, C. venosa, C. bellula, C. brachiata, C. camporum, C. depressa, C. fasciculata var. macrosperma, C. ferrisiae, C. littoralis, C. mississippiensis, C. puberula, C. robusta, C. rostrata, C. tracyi
Name authority (Michaux) Greene: Pittonia 3: 242. (1897) — (as fascicularis)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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