Common Sensitive Plant
Chamaecrista nictitans var. nictitans
Also listed as Chamaecrista nictitans subsp. nictitans
Found in forests, woodlands, disturbed areas, pine savannas, and a wide variety of other habitats. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 88%
- Height
- Up to about 1.5 feet
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to moist
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Annual or perennial
- Bloom
- June to October
- Fruiting season
- July to November
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 45 Florida counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement.
Habitats
Forests and woodlands; roadsides, fields and disturbed ground; pine savannas.
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. All habitats
Who uses this plant?
31CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL
Genus host records with ranges including FL · Cassia
- Phoebis sennaeCloudless Sulphur
- Abaeis nicippeSleepy Orange, Sleepy Yellow, Erratic Orange
- Amyelois transitellaNavel Orangeworm
- Anabasis ochrodesmaCassia Webworm Moth
- Aphrissa statiraStatira Sulphur, Migrant Sulphur; Florida Statira Sulphur
- Ascalapha odorataBlack Witch
- Automeris ioIo Moth
- Choristoneura obsoletanaObsolete Leafroller
- Colias eurythemeOrange Sulphur, Alfalfa Butterfly
- Epargyreus clarusSilver-Spotted Skipper
Show all 31
- Erechthias minusculaCaribbean Scavenger Moth
- Eumarozia malachitanaSculptured Moth
- Eurema dairaBarred Yellow, Barred Sulphur
- Fundella pellucensCaribbean Podborer
- Hemiargus ceraunusCeraunus Blue, Antillean Blue
- Leptotes cassiusCassius Blue, Tropical Striped Blue
- Lesmone detrahensDetracted Owlet
- Phoebis agaritheLarge Orange Sulphur, Orange Giant Sulphur
- Phoebis phileaOrange-Barred Sulphur
- Platynota rostranaOmnivorous Platynota
- Pleuroprucha insulsariaCommon Tan Wave
- Psamatodes abydataDot-Lined Angle
- Pyrisitia lisaLittle Yellow, Little Sulphur, Lisa Yellow
- Pyrisitia niseMimosa Yellow, Blacktip Sulphur, Jamaican Sulphur
- Selenisa sueroidesTailpipes, Pale-Edged Selenisa Moth
- Thysania zenobiaOwl Moth
- Trichordestra legitimaStriped Garden Caterpillar Moth
- Uresiphita reversalisGenista Caterpillar, Genista Cbroom Moth
- Zale lunataLunate Zale
- Anypsipyla univitella
- Lesmone formularis
24BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Chamaecrista
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
2BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Chamaecrista
- Colinus virginianusNorthern Bobwhite
- Cyrtonyx montezumaeMontezuma Quail
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Fruit begins
- July
- Fruit ends
- November
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “June to October” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Yellow” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Fruit begins · “July” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “November” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Height · “Up to about 1.5 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Annual or perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- primary_flower_color · “yellow” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Soil · “Dry; Moist (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Chamaecrista nictitans subsp. nictitans
Conservation status
| Florida rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5T5 |
| FL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Atlas of Florida Plants
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications