Senna corymbosa |
Senna covesii |
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Argentine senna |
Coues' cassia, Coves' cassia, desert senna |
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Habit | Shrubs or trees, to 3.5 m. Leaves mesophyllous, 5.5–9.5 cm, glabrous or glabrate; stipules caducous; extrafloral nectary 1, between first leaflet pair, sessile or short-stipitate; leaflet pairs 3, blades oblong-lanceolate, 25–60 × 5–14 mm. | Herbs, perennial, to 0.7 m. Leaves slightly sclerophyllous, 2–10 cm, hairy; stipules persistent, to 1 mm wide; extrafloral nectaries between all leaflet pairs, stipitate; leaflet pairs 2–4, blades obovate to elliptic-obovate or oblong-elliptic, 10–38 × 5–19 mm. |
Racemes | 4–18-flowered; bracts caducous. |
(2–)4–8-flowered; bracts caducous. |
Pedicels | 13–23 mm. |
8–17 mm. |
Flowers | monosymmetric; calyx brownish to greenish yellow; corolla golden yellow, longest petal 8–16 mm; androecium heterantherous, stamens 7, middle stamens 1/2 as long as abaxial or smaller, staminodes 3; anthers of middle stamens to 3.6–4.8 mm, of abaxial stamens 5.2–6.5 mm, dehiscing by nearly U-shaped pore, apical appendage inconspicuous; gynoecium incurved, ovules 34–50; ovary hairy; style slightly incurved. |
monosymmetric; calyx pale green, pinkish, or yellowish; corolla golden yellow, longest petal 9–15 mm; androecium not heterantherous, stamens 7, staminodes 3; anthers 2.5–4.2 mm, dehiscing by 1 apical pore, apical appendage 0; gynoecium linear, slightly incurved, ovules 28–42; ovary hairy; style filiform, incurved. |
Legumes | somewhat pendulous, cylindrical, straight, 40–120 × 6–10 mm, corrugated over seeds, indehiscent. |
erect, cylindrical, slightly curved, 180–350 × 50–80 mm, shallowly corrugated over seeds, dehiscing apically downward. |
Seeds | dull brown or dark reddish brown, obliquely obovoid or oblong-ellipsoid. |
brown, rhomboid. |
2n | = 28. |
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Senna corymbosa |
Senna covesii |
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Phenology | Flowering early winter–mid spring. | Flowering late winter–early fall. |
Habitat | Thickets, brushy stream and river banks, waste places. | Sandy and gravelly desert washes, slopes, and stony hills, disturbed desert roadsides. |
Elevation | 0–500 m. (0–1600 ft.) | 0–1200 m. (0–3900 ft.) |
Distribution |
FL; GA; LA; MS; SC; TX; s South America |
AZ; CA; NM; NV; Mexico (Baja California, Sinaloa, Sonora)
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Discussion | Senna corymbosa has been cultivated for over two centuries and is a common ornamental in many botanical gardens worldwide; it has become naturalized in warmer western Europe and South Africa (H. S. Irwin and R. C. Barneby 1982). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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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 | ||
Synonyms | Cassia corymbosa, Adipera corymbosa | Cassia covesii, Earleocassia covesii |
Name authority | (Lamarck) H. S. Irwin & Barneby: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 35: 397. (1982) | (A. Gray) H. S. Irwin & Barneby: Phytologia 44: 499. (1979) |
Web links |