100 SENNA FAMILY 



its native Madagascar to nearly every warm country of 

 the world. The dwarf poinciana, Caesalpinia, and the 

 Jerusalem thorn, Parhin^onia, have become naturalized 

 in parts of southern Florida. 



The red-bud, or Judas tree, Cercis canadensis, which 

 blooms on Virginia hillsides with wild plums and flowering 

 dogwood, is an ornamental native tree of this family. 

 It is found in northern Florida and in the northern 

 part of the peninsula, and is easily identified by the rose 

 purple or pink flowers borne in many clusters along the 

 bare branches in early spring. The roundish leaves are 

 from two to five inches across. 



Partridge Pea (Genus Chamaecrista) 



Partridge peas, our most common native plants of this 

 family, are found chiefly in dry pinelands, where with 

 bushy growth of many reddish stems C. brachiata begins 

 to bloom in late winter, and even in the following De- 

 cember shows a few yellow flowers along with many 

 smooth brown seedpods. Both this species and C. aspera 

 are widely distributed through the peninsula. 



The flowers of the partridge peas are not pea-shaped, 

 but are irregular nevertheless, one or two of the petals 

 being larger than the others. The stamens, too, are 

 unequal in size, and occasionally some of them are sterile. 

 The pinnate leaves are formed of many leaflets, which in 

 the late afternoon "go to sleep" for the night. 



Chamaecrista brachiata. Flowers yellow, 1 in. across, from 

 leaf-axils. Stems 1-3 ft. tall, much branched. Leaves of 

 18-28 small leaflets. Seedpods narrow, 2-3 in. long. Dry 

 pinelands. Blooming from late winter to fall. Fla. 



Chamaecrista aspera. Flowers yellow, much smaller than 

 above species. Stems and seedpods very hairy. Seedpods 

 about 1 in. long. Leaflets 40-50. Pinelands and waste places. 

 Blooming from spring to fall. Fla. and Ga. 



