Chamaecrista desvauxii

Chamaecrista desvauxii is a slender, perennial herb or subshrub of the family Fabaceae (subfamily Caesalpinioideae), widely distributed across the tropics of the Americas, Africa and tropical Asia, where it occurs in savannas, open cerrado, grasslands, roadsides and disturbed sandy soils. The plant typically grows 20–80 cm tall, with wiry, sparingly branched, more or less erect stems that are finely pubescent to glabrate. The leaves are alternate, paripinnate and very small, with a slender petiole bearing a single conspicuous stalked gland; the leaflets are arranged in three to seven pairs, each obovate to oblong, 5–15 mm long, with an asymmetric base. Flowers are borne in small axillary clusters of one to three; each flower has five free, bright yellow, somewhat unequal petals and is 10–20 mm across, with ten stamens. The fruits are slender, flattened, dehiscent legumes 3–6 cm long, opening explosively to release the small, shiny brown seeds. The species is taxonomically variable and several varieties have been recognised.