Duration: Annual

Nativity: Non-Native

Lifeform: Forb/Herb

General: Herbaceous annuals, stems glandular-hirsute.

Leaves: Pinnate, leaflets in 2 pairs, 6 mm wide or wider, obovate to oval, thin, with ciliate surfaces.

Flowers: Yellow, petals nearly equal, to 5 mm long, stamens 5-10, in racemes or pannicles, or solitary in leaf axils.

Fruits: Pods, sparsely long-hirsute. Seeds obovate, smooth, black and shiny.

Ecology: Found on granitic slopes and ridges, around 5,000 ft (1524 m); flowering September.

Distribution: Widely distributed in tropical America, supposed to have been introduced from the Old World.

Notes: Distinguished from Chamaecrista nictitans, but the much more obovate leaves, rather than the elliptical in C. nictitans.

Ethnobotany: Unknown, but other species in the genus have uses.

Etymology: Chamaecrista come from Greek chamae, dwarf and crista for cross, while absus is of uncertain origin.

Synonyms: Cassia absus, Chamaecrista absus var. absus

Editor: LCrumbacher2012