Chamaecrista mimosoides (L.)Greene

This is a legume which is erect to prostrate usually annual, growing upto 1.5 m in height. Stems tend to be woody sometimes, usually covered with short curved hairs, sometimes more or less with longer hairs. Leaves are compound, linear-oblong to linear, parallel-sidded, 0.4 to 1.5 cm in width and 0.6 x 10 cm in length, 16-76 pairs of leaflets. Leaf has a fish-bone like appearence. Inflorescence with one to three flowers. Flowers are with five petals and have a typical cassia like resemblance and yellow in color. Petals are obovate 4 to 13mm in length and 2 to 9mm in width. Pods are linear-oblong to linear, 3.5 to 8 cm in length (rarely 1.5 cm in length) and 3.5mm in width.

Shrubs or herbs, young stem, rachis often appressed hairy. Leaves spirally arranged or distichous, paripinnate, 4-8 cm long; leaflets opposite 24-50 pairs, 3-6 x 1-2 mm, linear-oblong, oblique at base, margins ciliate; rachis with a sessile gland near the base; stipules linear 5-8 mm long. Flowers solitary or many-flowered, racemes, axillary or supra axillary; peduncle 1-2 cm long; bracts ovate, 3-6 mm long; bracteoles scarious; pedicels 0.5-1.5 cm long. Sepals 5, lanceolate, 4-5 mm long. Petals 5, yellow, 5-8 mm long, obovate. Stamens 10, alternate short and long. Ovary linear, densely silky hairy, stigma truncate. Pods 3-6 x 0.4-0.5 cm. plano-compressed, thickened along sutures, elastically dehiscent; seeds c. 20, ellipsoid.