Five-leaf cassia

Chamaecrista mimosoides is an herbaceous plant, usually erect, sometimes prostrate, annual or perennial, which measures 30 cm to 1 m high. The more or less pubescent stem is of cylindrical cross-section and has a central pith. The leaves are alternate, compound paripinnate, distichous, stipulate with numerous linear leaflets (up to 140) whose size decreases from its base to its apex. The yellow flowers are axillary to supra-axillary, isolated or grouped in small inflorescences. The fruit is a flat narrow pod, straight and pubescent. The rhomboid-shaped seed is smooth and shiny, punctuated or mottled with yellow.