An annual plant, 5 to 16 inches high with erect or decumbent, branching and somewhat pubescent stems. Leaves evenly pinnate, sensitive to the touch, bearing a small gland near the base of the petiole; leaflets twelve to forty, linear-oblong, blunt and mucronate at the apex, rounded and oblique at the base, inequilateral, one-fourth to two-thirds of an inch long, about one-fourth as wide. Flowers two or three together in the axils, one-fourth of an inch broad or less; calyx lobes five, pointed; corolla yellow, somewhat irregular, three of the five petals smaller than the others; stamens five, all perfect. Fruit a small, linear, pubescent or smooth pod, 1 to 1 ½ inches long.

In dry and sandy soil, Maine to Georgia, west to Indiana, Kansas and Texas. Flowering from July to September.

Memoir 15 N. Y. State Museum

Plate 105

A. Sensitive Pea; Wild Sensitive Plant - Chamaecrista nictitans