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Chapman's Pea or Alicia
Chapmannia floridana Torr. & A. Gray
(chap-MAN-ee-a flor-i-DAY-na)
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General:
This common pea of the
sandhills has bright yellow flowers arranged at the end of an erect,
wand-like stem 90 cm (3 ft) tall. During the morning before the
fragile petals wilt, one can be entertained by bumblebees making their
rounds to collect pollen. Watch for the flowers bending down
under their weight, then waving back and forth as the bees fly away
filled with nectar and pollen.
It was named in honor of Dr. Alvan Wentworth Chapman, author of the first standard manual southern flora.
Flowers/Fruit:
The bright yellow, pea
shaped flowers have a hairy calyx. They wilt and close by
noon. The upper petal is large, looking somewhat like a
sunbonnet. The flowers are both bisexual and unisexual. Seeds are
in nearly round pod 1-3 cm. (1½ to 1 in.) long with 1-4 joints.
Leaves/Stems:
Alternate, odd-pinnately compound leaves of 3 to 7 elliptic leaflets are arranged along a hairy, sticky stem.
Distribution:
This plant is endemic to the dry pinelands of peninsula Florida from Marion County throughout central Florida.
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