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.