Author: Moench
Morphological description
Herbs or (in Malesian region) rarely small trees .
Leaves paripinnate (Chamaecr mimos fl/pod FM23 ). Leaflets few (rarely) to many; foliar glands usually present, disc- or cup-shaped, rarely flat.
Flowers yellow to red (Chamaecr leschen infl 428822 ). Stamens 10 to 5 fertile; filaments straight; anther-thecae ciliolate along the sutures, dehiscing terminally by slit or pore.
Pods elastically dehiscent, the valves coiling (Chamaecr mimos fl/pod FM23 ).
Seeds with either smooth or pitted seedcoat, always exareolate.
Distribution
About 270 species worldwide; 240 species native to the Americas; few in tropical Asia.
Note
In the circumscription of the genus Larsen & Ding Hou (1996: 565) are following the concept of Irwin & Barneby (1982) in their monograph of the American Cassiinae . They are, however, of a different opinion concerning the species delimitation in the section Chamaecrista . Here they find that the Asian material justifies the maintenance of the species Chamaecrista mimosoides , Chamaecrista leschenaultiana , and Chamaecrista pumila . The whole group, however, needs a renewal study.