Stats

Lifespan: Annual
Size: Small
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: North America
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Toxins
Status: Common

About

A low, bushy annual legume with sensitive, fern-like leaflets that fold shut when touched, topped by bright yellow five-petaled flowers each marked with a distinctive dark red anther. Its seed pods and foliage are a favorite food source for bobwhite quail and other game birds, giving the plant its common name.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Genus: Chamaecrista
Species: Chamaecrista fasciculata