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Chamaecrista rotundifolia
Also called Round Leaf Cassia
A short-lived perennial or self-seeding annual forage legume that grows up to about 1 metre, valued for poor, dry, acidic soils and as livestock feed and green manure. It thrives in full sun on light, well-drained soil and is not suited to waterlogged or heavy clay ground.
Chamaecrista rotundifolia, the round-leaf cassia, also known as pasto rastiero, roundleaf sensitive pea, and Wynn cassia, is a short-lived perennial or self-generating annual plant in the subfamily Caesalpinioideae of the family Fabaceae. It originated in North America, Mesoamerica, the Caribbean, and Tropical South America but is grown in other parts of the world today.
It grows in dry soils and areas of low rainfall, as well as in low-fertility and acidic soils with high levels of solubilized aluminum. It can also reduce erosion and runoff over time. These factors make it a potential asset to farmers in the African Subtropics and elsewhere where soil quality is a barrier to farming. It serves as a source of feed for livestock and acts as a green fertilizer, raising soil quality and nutrient content which can improve yields.
Round-leaf cassia grows well in poor soils. It requires only low to moderate rainfall, with the minimum requirement being 400 mm, making it well adapted to the sub-humid and semi-arid conditions in Africa. It performs best in light, sandy soils with good drainage and is drought-resistant, but not when left ungrazed for extended periods of time. Conversely, it is not tolerant of flooding and is not suited to hard-setting or clay soils which can take on too much moisture. It is also successful in acid soils with a high content of exchangeable aluminum, as exemplified by cases in Central and Southern China.
Round-leaf cassia requires warm temperatures to grow. It has, however, been shown to survive low levels of frost, but too much frost can be harmful or lethal to the plant. In the occurrence of regular heavy frosts, round-leaf cassia acts as an annual. It requires full sunlight to moderate shade.
Round-leaf cassia can be used for open grazing, but also for hay and silage using its high dry matter content which contains the necessary nutrients for livestock (i.e. protein, fibre, energy, vitamins). It can be cut and carried to tethered or penned livestock or grazed in situ for a few hours daily. Where feed sources are limited it can serve as a high quality supplement to lower quality feeds such as crop residues and native pasture plants. Integrating Round-leaf Cassia into feed can result in healthy weight gains in cattle. However, it is not acceptable for horses.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Chamaecrista rotundifolia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
