SafePlants

Chamaecrista nictitans: Sensitive Partridge Pea

Chamaecrista nictitans, also known as sensitive partridge pea, small partridge pea, sensitive pea, or wild sensitive plant, is a herbaceous legume species. It's noted for the sensitivity of its leaves, which fold when touched.

Taxonomy and Nomenclature

• Scientific Name: Chamaecrista nictitans (L.) Moench var. nictitans
• Common Names: Sensitive partridge pea, sensitive pea, wild sensitive plant, sleeping plant
• Family: Fabaceae (Pea Family), Subfamily Caesalpinioideae
• Kingdom: Plantae
• Taxonomic Rank: Subspecies
• Synonym: Cassia nictitans

Distribution and Habitat

Chamaecrista nictitans is native to North America and is widespread and locally common. A Jamaican TYPE specimen was collected in 1786 from a damp ditch.

Morphology and Growth

• It is a slender-stemmed annual, typically growing up to 1 foot tall (although other species in Chamaecrista can range from small to large shrubs).
• The plant features pinnately-compound leaves, which are often sensitive to touch, causing them to fold when disturbed. Each compound leaf can have up to 20 leaflets.
• It has distinctive sensitive plant-like leaves and small but prominent yellow flowers.
• Stems are erect, slender, glabrous to minutely pubescent, usually branched with branches ascending to widely.

Ecological Role

• It's a nitrogen-fixing annual, contributing to soil rebuilding.
• The plant serves as a caterpillar food source for various butterflies.
• The seeds are a food source for quail, prairie-chickens, pheasants, ducks, and other grassland birds.

Quirky Facts

• The leaflets of the sensitive partridge pea are called 'sensitive' because the leaves fold together when touched with a finger, and close completely at night because they are sensitive to light.