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flor de San Jose, flor de san josé, palo zorillo

American senna, northern wild senna

Habit Shrubs or trees, to 20 m. Leaves mesophyllous to slightly sclerophyllous, 8.5–28.5 cm, hairy, sometimes densely; stipules caducous; extrafloral nectaries 0; leaflet pairs 2–5, blades bicolored, usually obovate to elliptic, sometimes ovate, 20–130 × 10–60 mm. Herbs, perennial, to 0.8–2.2 m.Leaves mesophyllous, 13–23 cm, finely hairy; stipules caducous; extrafloral nectary 1, base of or along petiole, sessile or shortly stipitate; leaflet pairs 6–10, blades elliptic, oblong-elliptic, or lanceolate-elliptic, 30–60 × 10–20 mm.
Racemes

5–55-flowered, not spikelike;

bracts early caducous, to 5 mm.

25–37-flowered;

bracts caducous.

Pedicels

13–28 mm.

11–22 mm.

Flowers

asymmetric, enantiostylous;

calyx greenish to yellow;

corolla yellow-orange, slightly dark-veined, longest petal 12–23 mm, highly asymmetric, 1 or both lower petals highly modified, strongly concave and folded over stamens (flag-shaped);

androecium slightly heterantherous, stamens 7 (similar in shape and size, abaxial ones slightly longer), staminodes 3;

anthers 2.8–5 mm, dehiscing by 2 short slits, apical appendage 0;

gynoecium incurved, ovules 46–70;

ovary glabrate, sometimes becoming hairy after fertilization;

style stout.

monosymmetric;

calyx pinkish brown;

corolla yellow, longest petal 8–12 mm;

androecium heterantherous, stamens 7, staminodes 3;

anthers of middle stamens 2.6–3.5 mm, of abaxial stamens 4–5 mm, truncate, dehiscing by 2 pores, apical appendage 0;

gynoecium incurved, ovules 10–16;

ovary densely hairy;

style incurved, not dilated.

Legumes

pendulous, flat, straight, 220–370 × 80–140 mm, woody, indehiscent or splitting transversely into woody segments.

ascending, flat, curved downward, 60–115 × 5.5–8 mm, corrugated over seeds, tardily dehiscent, each seed compartment nearly as wide as long.

Seeds

reddish brown, obovoid to oblong-obovoid.

ochre, yellowish brown, or dark reddish brown, ovoid or rhomboid.

Senna atomaria

Senna hebecarpa

Phenology Flowering late winter–late spring. Flowering mid summer–early fall.
Habitat Disturbed habitats. Open woodlands, valley floors, creek banks, swamps, thickets, pastures.
Elevation 0–20 m. (0–100 ft.) 0–500 m. (0–1600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
FL; Mexico (Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Colima, Guerrero, Jalisco, México, Michoacán, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Yucatán); Central America (including Caribbean Islands); South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela) [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CT; DE; IL; IN; KY; MA; MD; MI; MO; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; TN; VA; VT; WV; ON
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

As with other trees from deciduous and semi-deciduous vegetation, Senna atomaria is covered with flowers before developing the foliage (H. S. Irwin and R. C. Barneby 1982). In the flora area, it occurs naturalized only very locally in Collier County (R. P. Wunderlin et al., http://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Caesalpinioideae (excluding Mimosoid clade) > Senna Fabaceae > subfam. Caesalpinioideae (excluding Mimosoid clade) > Senna
Sibling taxa
S. alata, S. armata, S. artemisioides, S. bauhinioides, S. corymbosa, S. covesii, S. durangensis, S. hebecarpa, S. hirsuta, S. ligustrina, S. lindheimeriana, S. marilandica, S. mexicana, S. multiglandulosa, S. obtusifolia, S. occidentalis, S. orcuttii, S. pendula, S. pilosior, S. pumilio, S. ripleyana, S. roemeriana, S. surattensis, S. wislizeni
S. alata, S. armata, S. artemisioides, S. atomaria, S. bauhinioides, S. corymbosa, S. covesii, S. durangensis, S. hirsuta, S. ligustrina, S. lindheimeriana, S. marilandica, S. mexicana, S. multiglandulosa, S. obtusifolia, S. occidentalis, S. orcuttii, S. pendula, S. pilosior, S. pumilio, S. ripleyana, S. roemeriana, S. surattensis, S. wislizeni
Synonyms Cassia atomaria, C. emarginata Cassia hebecarpa, C. hebecarpa var. longipila, S. hebecarpa var. longipila
Name authority (Linnaeus) H. S. Irwin & Barneby: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 35: 588. (1982) (Fernald) H. S. Irwin & Barneby: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 35: 446. (1982)
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