Chamaecrista nictitans

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Chamaecrista nictitans
Cham nict.jpg
Photo by John R. Gwaltney, Southeastern Flora.com
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae ⁄ Leguminosae
Genus: Chamaecrista
Species: C. nictitans
Binomial name
Chamaecrista nictitans
(L.) Moench
CHAM NICT dist.jpg
Natural range of Chamaecrista nictitans from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common name: Sensitive Partridge Pea; Common Sensitive-plant

Taxonomic notes

Synonyms: Cassia nictitans L. var. nictitans; Cassia nictitans L. var. hebecarpa Fernald; Chamaecrista nictitans ssp. nictitans var. nictitans; Chamaecrista nictitans ssp. nictitans var. aspera (Muhlenberg ex Elliott) Irwin & Barneby; Chamaecrista procumbens (Linnaeus) Greene; Chamaecrista multipinnata Pollard; Chamaecrista aspera (Muhlenberg ex Elliott) Greene

Varieties: Chamaecrista nictitans (Linnaeus) Moench var. aspera (Muhlenberg ex Elliott) Irwin & Barneby; Chamaecrista nictitans (Linnaeus) Moench var. nictitans

Description

Chamaecrista nictitans is a decumbent herb that forms large mats.

Generally, in the group Chameacrista it includes trees, shrubs, or herbs. The leaves are evenly 1-pinnate with conspicuous gland(s) on the petiole or rachis. The flowers are either solitary or clustered in axillary racemes or terminal panicles, perfect. The calyx has an inconspicuous tube, 5 lobed, equally imbricate, and often unequal. There are 5 petals and are a little unequal. The stamens 5-10, are often unequal and some are sterile or imperfect. The anthers are basifixed and opening by 2 apical pores. The legume is few-to many-seeded, often septate, and exceedingly variable. Including Chamaecrista Moench, Ditremexa Raf., Emelista Raf. [1]

Specifically, for Chamaecrista nictitans, the species is an annual, growing up to 1-5 dm tall from the taproot. The stems are glabrous to densley appressed-puberulent with incurved trichomes. The leaves are sensitive with a slender-stalked umbrella-shaped gland, about 0.4-0.8 mm in diameter. Just below the leaves are persistent, striate. The flowers are axillary, solitary, or 2-3 borne in a short raceme. The pedicels grow up to 1-4 mm long. The sepals are lanceolate, growing 3-4 mm long, acuminate. The petals are bright yellow in color, are very unequal, and the lowermost and largest is 6-8 mm long and about 2 times as large as the other four. There are 5 stamens, unequal. The legume is elastically dehiscent, growing 2-4 cm long, and 3-6 mm broad, and is glabrous to most commonly densely appressed-puberulent or rarely villous. [1]

Distribution

C. nictitans is widely distributed in the United States from Maine down the east coast to Florida, Michigan and Wisconsin, Kansas and Missouri, and as far west as New Mexico and Arizona.[2] It is also native to Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Navassa Island, Mexico and portions of Central and South America, and introduced to Hawaii and the Pacific Basin as well as subtropics and tropics in Asia.[2][3] C. nictitans var. nictitans is more widely distributed in North America and into South America while C. nictitans var. aspera can be found from southeast South Carolina to south Florida.[4]

Ecology

It is a legume. By mid-season in June and July, a maximum nitrogen-fixing rate was observed.[5]

Habitat

C. nictitans is tolerant of overstory canopies that decrease the light level to about half the ambient (i.e., it can live in partially shaded areas and its nitrogen-fixing capability won't be significantly affected).[5] It is also tolerant of a wide range of dry to wet soil types, having been found in soils as diverse as sandy silt loam, low black sandy peat, shallow soil overlaying limerock, shell sand, red clay, loessial soil, sandy clay loam, dry marl, calcareous and shaly soils, clay, igneous intrusive rocky soils, and novaculite ridges.[6]

C. nictitans occurs in a variety of natural and disturbed communities. It is found in longleaf pine-wiregrass communities,[5] longleaf pine-scrub oak sandy ridges, annually burned savannas, xeric oak-saw palmetto scrub communities, wooded banks of creeks, slash pine flats, borders of brackish and salt marshes, low weedy swales, laurel oak woodlands, upland slopes, dry sandhills, margins of hillside bogs, and loblolly pine forests.[6] C. nictitans is also able to colonize some disturbed areas, including roadsides, railways, clear-cut pine flatwoods, vacant lots, cultivated fields, power line corridors, old fields, and plantations of young slash pine.[6] It responds positively to agricultural disturbance in South Carolina communities indicating post-agricultural woodland.[7][8]

Associated species include Chamaecrista fasciculata, Panicum sp., Andropogon sp., Strophostyles leiosperma, Quercus sp., Serenoa repens, Pinus elliottii, Pinus taeda, Pinus palustris, Gordonia lasianthus, Schizachyrium scoparium, and Sorghastrum nutans.[6][9]

Phenology

It has been observed flowering in August through October with peak inflorescence in September, and fruiting in August through November.[6][10]

Seed dispersal

This species is thought to be dispersed by consumption by vertebrates. [11]

Seed bank and germination

For propagation, the seeds need scarification for successful germination. It has best results when boiled between 70 and 80 degrees Celsius, and seedlings can germinate within 6 weeks.[9]

Fire ecology

This species occurs in areas that regularly burn, suggesting a level of fire tolerance.[6] It has been observed to colonize an area post burn where it was either absent or rare before the fire disturbance.[12] C. nictitans was also shown to benefit from winter and spring season burns rather than summer burns.[13]

Pollination

The following Hymenoptera families and species were observed visiting flowers of Chamaecrista nictitans at Archbold Biological Station:[14]

Halictidae: Augochloropsis sumptuosa

It has also been observed to be pollinated by Augochloropsis anonyma and Augochlorella aurata in the Hymenoptera order.[15][16]

Use by animals

This species is not usually desired for grazing since it is slow to decompose, slow-growing, and can contain some toxicity. However, it is used for forage or hay in infertile subtropical soils, and is normally eaten by goats. C. nictitans is a great cover crop since it has the ability to build the nitrogen pool, organic matter in the soil, and increase overall availability of nitrogen. It is eaten by a variety of animals including eastern meadow lark, eastern mourning dove, bobwhite quail, and eastern turkey. The extrafloral nectaries on the plant attract spiders, ants, and pollinators. As well, it is a larval host for the little sulphur (Eurema lisa) and cloudless sulphur (Phoebis sennae) in the Lepidoptera order. Historically, the Cherokee Native American tribe utilized the species along with Cassia marilandica to be used to treat spasms in infants.[9] It was also used medicinally as a cathartic (helping bowel movements) and a vermifuge (expel worms).[17]

Diseases and parasites

C. nictitans is susceptible to nematodes, including Meloidogyne arenaria, M. incognita, and M. javanica.[18]

Conservation and management

C. nictitans can be considered weedy since it has the ability to easily spread to nearby fields, and especially in places where other competition is removed. For management of keeping the species, mowing off the other grasses and weeds that can outcompete C. nictitans along with lightly disking fields can alleviate this problem.[9]

Cultivation and restoration

Photo Gallery

References and notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Radford, Albert E., Harry E. Ahles, and C. Ritchie Bell. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. 1964, 1968. The University of North Carolina Press. 577-8. Print.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 USDA, NRCS. (2016). The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 5 April 2019). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA.
  3. ↑ Cook, B.G., B.C. Pengelly, S.D. Brown, J.L. Donnelly, D.A. Eagles, M.A. Franco, J. Hanson, B.F. Mullen, I.J. Partridge, M. Peters, and R. Schultze-Kraft. 2005. Tropical forages: an interactive selection tool. Chamaecrista nictitans. CSIRO, DPI&F(Qld), CIAT, and ILRI, Brisbane, Australia. http://www.tropicalforages.info/key/Forages/Media/Html/Chamaecrista_nictitans.htm (accessed 03 Mar. 2015).
  4. ↑ Weakley, A. S. (2015). Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States. Chapel Hill, NC, University of North Carolina Herbarium.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Cathey, S. E., L. R. Boring, et al. (2010). "Assessment of N2 fixation capability of native legumes from the longleaf pine-wiregrass ecosystem." Environmental and Experimental Botany 67: 444-450.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: June 2014. Collectors: Robert K. Godfrey, R. Komarek, R. F. Doren, Cecil R Slaughter, R. Kral, P. O. Schallert, S. M. Tracy, D. B. Ward, D. Burch, J. K. Small, Chas. A. Mosier, Richard D. Houk, A. H. Curtiss, O. Lakela, J. K. Small, G. K. Small, George R. Cooley, Richard J. Eaton, James D. Ray, Jr., C. Ritchie Bell, Loran C. Anderson, Neal Morar, Delzie Demaree, J. J. Rudloe, C.M. Rogers, J. Beckner, J. Carmichael, James R. Burkhalter, Robert L. Lazor, Sidney McDaniel, John Morrill, P. Gillespie, Richard S. Mitchell, W. D. Reese, Joseph Ewan, H. R. Reed, W. R. Anderson, M.N. Sears; Windler, Keenan, - Lombardo, - Williams; R. L. Lane, JR., J. B. Lewis, C. F. Hyams, S. B. Jones, Samuel B. Jones, Jr., John W. Thieret, William B. Fox, Louis Williams, R. L. Wilbur, Edward S. Steele, Robert F. Thorne, Geo M. Merrill, J.B. Norton, Harry E. Ahles, and R.S. Leisner. States and Counties: Alabama: Dale and Sumter. Arkansas: Conway, Garland, Hot Spring, Jefferson, Lee, Pope, Pulaski, and Sebastian. Dist of Columbia: Addison Hts. Florida: Alachua, Baker, Bay, Brevard, Calhoun, Collier, Dade, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Hamilton, Hillsborough, Jackson, Jefferson, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Manatee, Marion, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Orange, Osceola, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, St Johns, Sarasota, Seminole, Taylor, Volusia, Wakulla, Walton, and Washington. Georgia: Decatur, Grady, Taylor, and Thomas. Louisiana: Evangeline, Iberia, and Ouachita. Maryland: Baltimore. Mississippi: Harrison, Lamar, Pearl River, and Saratoga-city. North Carolina: Alleghany, Bertie, Bladen, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Carteret, Catawba, Cherokee, Davidson, Harnett, Haywood, Iredell, Jackson, Mitchell, Orange, Robeson, Swain, Vance, Wilkes, and Wilson. South Carolina: Beaufort, Cherokee, Colleton, Darlington, and Jasper. Tennessee: Anderson, Bedford, and Coffee. Virginia: Amelia, Brunswick, Giles, Prince Edward, Roanoke, and Southampton. West Virginia: Cabell.
  7. ↑ Brudvig, L.A., E Grman, C.W. Habeck, and J.A. Ledvina. (2013). Strong legacy of agricultural land use on soils and understory plant communities in longleaf pine woodlands. Forest Ecology and Management 310: 944-955.
  8. ↑ Brudvig, L.A., J.L. Orrock, E.I. Damschen, C.D. Collins, P.G. Hahn, W.B. Mattingly, J.W. Veldman, and J.L. Walker. (2014). Land-Use History and Contemporary Management Inform an Ecological Reference Model for Longleaf Pine Woodland Understory Plant Communities. PLoS ONE 9(1): e86604.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Sheahan, C.M. 2015. Plant guide for sensitive partridge pea (Chamaecrista nictitans). USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Cape May Plant Materials Center, Cape May, NJ.
  10. ↑ Nelson, G. PanFlora: Plant data for the eastern United States with emphasis on the Southeastern Coastal Plains, Florida, and the Florida Panhandle. www.gilnelson.com/PanFlora/ Accessed: 5 APR 2019
  11. ↑ Kirkman, L. Katherine. Unpublished database of seed dispersal mode of plants found in Coastal Plain longleaf pine-grasslands of the Jones Ecological Research Center, Georgia.
  12. ↑ Hutchinson, T. (2005). Fire and teh herbaceous layer of eastern oak forests. F. S. United States Department of Agriculture, Northern Research Station: 136-149.
  13. ↑ Kush, J. S., et al. (2000). Understory plant community response to season of burn in natural longleaf pine forests. Proceedings 21st Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference. Fire and forest ecology: innovative silviculture & vegetation management, Tallahassee, FL, Tall Timbers Research, Inc.
  14. ↑ Deyrup, M.A. 2015. Database of observations of Hymenoptera visitations to flowers of plants on Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA.
  15. ↑ Deyrup, M. J. E., and Beth Norden (2002). "The diversity and floral hosts of bees at the Archbold Biological Station, Florida (Hymenoptera: Apoidea)." Insecta mundi 16(1-3).
  16. ↑ Grundel, R., et al. (2011). "A survey of bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) of the Indiana Dunes and Northwest Indiana, USA." Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 84(2): 105-138.
  17. ↑ Nickell, J. M. (1911). J.M.Nickell's botanical ready reference : especially designed for druggists and physicians : containing all of the botanical drugs known up to the present time, giving their medical properties, and all of their botanical, common, pharmacopoeal and German common (in German) names. Chicago, IL, Murray & Nickell MFG. Co.
  18. ↑ Quesenberry, K. H., et al. (2008). "Response of native southeastern U.S. legumes to root-knot nematodes." Crop Science 48: 2274-2278.
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