Puerto Rico Sensitive Pea

Chamaecrista Tuerckheimii Britton, Bull. Torrey Club 44: 8 1917.
Cassia Tuerckheimii Urban, Symb. Ant. 8: 271. 1920.
Shrubby, with a deep woody root; stems slender, villous-pubescent, 8-10 cm. long. Stipules obliquely ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, striate, 2-3 mm. long; leaves 2-2.5 cm. long, the rachis villous-pubescent; leaflets 6 or 7 pairs, linear-oblong to oblong-oblanceolate, 6-8 mm. long, about 2 mm. wide, ciliate, shining, rounded or subtruncate and mucronulate at the apex, obliquely rounded at the base, pinnately veined with the prominent costa somewhat excentric, the petiolar gland short-stalked; pedicels slender, villous, about 2 cm. long; sepals lanceolate, acuminate, villous, 7-8 mm. long; petals obovate, about twice as long as the sepals; legume linear, narrowed at both ends, nearly glabrous, 1.8 cm. long.
Type locality: Near Maniel de Ocoa. Santo Domingo. Distribution: Hispaniola.

Chamaecrista portoricensis (Urban) Cook & Collins, Contr. U. S Nat. Herb. 8: 113. 1903.
Cassia portoricensis Urban, Symb. Ant. 1: 317. 1899.
Cassia portoricensis callosa Urban, loc. cit. 1899.
Chamaecrista portoricensis callosa Cook & Collins, loc. cit. 1903.
Shrubby, usually much branched, about 1 m. high or lower, the branches short-pubescent. Stipules lanceolate, long-acuminate, 3-8 mm. long; petiolar gland solitary, stout-stipitate; leaflets 3-11 pairs, coriaceous, oblong or oblong-obovate, 6-15 mm. long, glabrous, shining, callous-margined, mucronate, strongly veined; pedicels 1or 2-flowered, shorter than the leaves; sepals lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 6-8 mm. long, acuminate; petals 10-15 mm. long; legume linear, short-pilose, 6 cm. long or less, 4—6 mm. wide.
Type locality: Near Guayanilla, Porto Rico. Distribution: Southern and western Porto Rico.

Perennial, Shrubs, Herbs, Taproot present, Nodules present, Stems erect or ascending, Stems less than 1 m tall, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs sparsely to densely hairy, Stem hairs hispid to villous, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Extrafloral nectary glands on petiole, Stipules conspicuous, Stipules green, triangulate to lanceolate or foliaceous, Stipules persistent, Stipules free, Leaves compound, Leaves even pinnate, Leaf or leaflet margins entire, Leaflets opposite, Leaflets 10-many, Leaves glabrous or nearly so, Leaves coriaceous, Flowers solitary in axils, or appearing solitary, Flowers in axillary clusters or few-floweredracemes, 2-6 flowers, Inflorescence axillary, Bracts very small, absent or caducous, Bracteoles present, Flowers actinomorphic or somewhat irregular, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx hairy, Petals separate, Petals clawed, Petals orange or yellow, Stamens 9-10, Stamens heteromorphic, graded in size, Stamens completely free, separate, Filaments glabrous, Anthers opening by basal or terminal pores or slits, Style terete, Fruit a legume, Fruit unilocular, Fruit freely dehiscent, Fruit elongate, straight, Fruit oblong or ellipsoidal, Fruit exserted from calyx, Fruit internally septate between the seeds, Fruit compressed between seeds, Fruit explosively or elastically dehiscent, Valves twisting or c oiling after dehiscence, Fruit glabrous or glabrate, Fruit hairy, Fruit 3-10 seeded, Seeds subquadrate, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black.