Water Dead And Awake

Neptunia plena (L.) Benth. Journ. Bot. Hook. 4: 355. 1841
Mimosa plena I,. Sp. PI. 519. 1753.
Desmanthus pienus Willd. Sp. PI. 4: 1045. 1806.
Desmanthus piinctalus Willd. Sp. PI. 4: 1047. 1806.
Desmanthus comosus A. Rich. Ess. Fl. Cub. 475. 1845 (According to Grisebach).
Glabrous, the slender branches prostrate or ascending, 3-6 dm. long. Stipules ovate to lanceolate, thin, oblique, 4-6 mm. long; petioles slender, 1-3.5 cm. long, bearing a depressed gland between the lower pair of pinnae; pinnae 2-4 pairs; leaflets 12-20 pairs, linear, thin, faintly veined, 4-10 mm. long, obtuse; peduncles 6-12 cm. long, usually bearing 1 or 2 cordate bracts at or below the middle; heads ovoid; flowers yellow, the upper ones perfect, the lower staminate, or neutral, with exserted staminodes; legume 2-5 cm. long, about 8 mm. wide, acute or apiculate, thickened on the margins, oblong, the stipe longer than the calyx.
Type locality: Veracruz.
Distribution: West Indies; Lower California; Panama. Colombia to French Gniana and Brazil.

Perennial, H erbs, Stems woody below, or from woody crown or caudex, Nodules present, Stems erect or ascending, Stems or branches arching, spreading or decumbent, Stems less than 1 m tall, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs glabrous or sparsely glabrate, Stems or young twigs sparsely to densely hairy, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Extrafloral nectary glands on petiole, Stipules conspicuous, Stipules membranous or chartaceous, Stipules persistent, Stipules free, Leaves compound, Leaves bipinnate, Leaf or leaflet margins entire, Leaflets opposite, Leaflets 10-many, Leaves glabrous or nearly so, Inflorescences globose heads, capitate or subcapitate, Inflorescence axillary, Bracts conspicuously present, Flowers actinomorphic or somewhat irregular, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx glabrous, Petals united, valvate, Petals orange or yellow, Stamens 9-10, Stamens completely free, separate, Stamens long exserted, Filaments glabrous, Style terete, Fruit a legume, Fruit stipitate, Fruit unilocular, Fruit freely dehiscent, Fruit elongate, straight, Fruit oblong or ellipsoidal, Fruit coriaceous or becoming woody, Fruit exserted from calyx, Fruit glabrous or glabrate, Fruit 3-10 seeded, Seed with elliptical line or depression, pleurogram, Seeds ovoid to rounded in outline, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black.