Field sensitive pea is a small annual in the pea family native to Japan, Korea, and China; in Japan its stems, leaves, and pods are traditionally brewed as a tea. It has feathery leaves and small yellow flowers. It is not a familiar sight in the United States, where its better-known relatives are partridge pea and sensitive partridge pea.
Appearance
- Growth form
- An annual herb about 1–2 ft (30–60 cm) tall.
- Leaves
- Feathery leaves made of many pairs of tiny leaflets that fold up at night.
- Flowers
- Yellow flowers about 0.4 in (1 cm) across, with five nearly equal petals instead of the usual pea-flower shape.
- Fruit
- A flat pod about 1.2–1.6 in (3–4 cm) long with roughly 8–12 seeds. It splits open when ripe and flings out the seeds.
Look-alikes
Sensitive partridge peaChamaecrista nictitans
Its petals are unequal: the lowest one is about twice as long as the other four. Field sensitive pea has five petals of nearly the same shape.
Why they get mixed upBoth are small yellow-flowered annuals with feathery leaves.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- riverbanks
- levees
- roadsides
- Range
- Native to Japan, Korea, and China.
- Preferred conditions
- Sunny, open grassy spots such as riverbanks and levees.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
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