Family: Fabaceae
Common name: Zornia
Zornia plants grow to a height of 2-4 inches and produces tiny yellow or reddish-yellow flowers that look like pea flowers.
They belong to the family Fabaceae, the same family as pea plants, all of them distinguished by their nitrogen-fixing capabilities. Their roots have nitrogen fixing bacteria that take atmospheric nitrogen and convert it into a form of nitrites, nitrates or ammonia which can be absorbed by plants. This is the most important part of the nitrogen cycle.
Zornia plants have beautiful yellow flowers about 5 mm long with fused petals that look like a small crown. These prominently fused petals are usually yellow or light red in color; the yellow petals having red markings or shading at the base.
The leaves are toothed and covered with thin white hairs. The structure that produces the flowers is very distinct and pretty with oval, green pockets arranged close together. Once the Zornia flowers wither, a type of seed pods grow from the sepals, very small, multi-lobed and prickly; containing yellowish-brown seeds that are about 2 mm long.
Zornia plants is mostly seen in the wild, in hilly areas with loamy and well-drained soil. They are distinguished by their bright yellow flowers that bloom between July to September. Since they grow in the wild, their habitat is under threat from urbanization in the present times.
Propagation is from seeds.
