Family: Fabaceae

High Risk Traits:

• Elevation range exceeds 1000 m, demonstrating environmental versatility
  
• Thrives in tropical climates
  
• Naturalized on all main Hawaiian Islands
  
• A disturbance weed, with potential impacts to agriculture and the natural environment
  
• Other Chamaecrista species are invasive
  
• Tolerates many soil types
  
• Reproduces by seeds
  
• Self-compatible
  
• Reaches maturity in one growing season
  
• Seeds dispersed by gravity, internally by grazing animals and possibly accidentally and intentionally by people
  
• May tolerate cutting and fire

Low Risk Traits:

• Despite naturalization and weediness, Chamaecrista nictitans is an early successional plant and generally displaced by later successional species
  
• Unarmed (no spines, thorns, or burrs)
  
• Provides fodder for livestock
  
• Limited shade tolerance (dense shade may limit ability to spread)
  
• Not reported to spread vegetatively