Partridge Pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata)

Partridge Pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata)

Partridge Pea is the prairie's most generous annual — a fast-growing, nitrogen-fixing native legume that blooms prolifically from summer through fall, its bright yellow flowers with distinctive dark anthers attracting bumblebees in droves, and its seed pods feeding Northern Bobwhite, Wild Turkey, and a dozen other game birds through the winter. It is a plant that gives everything it has in a single season and then returns from seed the following spring, better than ever.

Botanical Profile

• Family: Fabaceae (Legume family)
• Native Range: Eastern and central United States from Massachusetts to Florida and west to the Rocky Mountains; native to Louisiana's prairies, roadsides, and disturbed grasslands
• USDA Hardiness Zones: 3–11 (annual; self-seeds prolifically)
• Mature Size: 1–3 feet tall
• Bloom Time: July–October
• Sun: Full sun
• Soil: Well-drained, sandy to loamy; drought-tolerant; nitrogen-fixing; thrives in poor soils

Prairie Movement & Ecological Role

Partridge Pea is one of the most important native plants for bumblebees — its flowers lack nectar but produce abundant pollen that bumblebees collect through sonication (buzz pollination), vibrating their flight muscles to shake the pollen loose. It is a host plant for the Cloudless Sulphur, Orange-barred Sulphur, and Sleepy Orange butterflies — three of Louisiana's most common and beautiful yellow butterflies. Its seed pods are a critical food source for Northern Bobwhite, Wild Turkey, and Mallard. Its nitrogen-fixing root nodules enrich the prairie soil, making it an ideal pioneer plant for establishing new prairie plantings.

In the Prairie Movement Strip

Part of the Prairie Movement Strip | Wind, Pollinators & Motion collection at Big Mamou Enterprises, Partridge Pea is the prairie strip's most generous annual — blooming, feeding, fixing nitrogen, and returning from seed year after year.