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Argentine senna

showy senna, velvet leaf senna, velvet leaf wild sensitive plant

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 1.5 m. Leaves slightly sclerophyllous, 6–16 cm, densely hairy; stipules caducous, 1–3 mm wide; extrafloral nectaries between all leaflet pairs, stipitate; leaflet pairs 4–8, blades oblong-elliptic or ovate- to obovate-elliptic, 20–50 × 8–20 mm.
Racemes

4–18-flowered;

bracts caducous.

usually 5–25-flowered;

bracts caducous.

Pedicels

13–23 mm.

6–22 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 usually pale green or pinkish, rarely yellow;

corolla yellow, longest petal 10.5–16 mm;

androecium heterantherous, stamens 7, staminodes 3;

anthers 3–5.1 mm, dehiscing by 1 apical pore, apical appendage 0;

gynoecium linear, ovules 20–28;

ovary densely hairy;

style incurved.

Legumes

somewhat pendulous, cylindrical, straight, 40–120 × 6–10 mm, corrugated over seeds, indehiscent.

erect, flat, straight, 30–65 × 5–9 mm, shallowly corrugated over seeds, dehiscent.

Seeds

dull brown or dark reddish brown, obliquely obovoid or oblong-ellipsoid.

brown, obovoid or oblong-obovoid.

2n

= 28.

= 28.

Senna corymbosa

Senna lindheimeriana

Phenology Flowering early winter–mid spring. Flowering spring–fall.
Habitat Thickets, brushy stream and river banks, waste places. Stony hillsides, desert washes, Larrea scrub, mesquite grasslands, chaparral.
Elevation 0–500 m. (0–1600 ft.) 0–1900(–2100) m. (0–6200(–6900) ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
FL; GA; LA; MS; SC; TX; s South America
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Sonora, Tamaulipas)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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.)

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. atomaria, S. bauhinioides, 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. hebecarpa, S. hirsuta, S. ligustrina, 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 corymbosa, Adipera corymbosa Cassia lindheimeriana, Earleocassia lindeheimeriana
Name authority (Lamarck) H. S. Irwin & Barneby: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 35: 397. (1982) (Scheele) H. S. Irwin & Barneby: Phytologia 44: 500. (1979)
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