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Coues' cassia, Coves' cassia, desert senna

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

Habit 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. 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

(2–)4–8-flowered;

bracts caducous.

usually 5–25-flowered;

bracts caducous.

Pedicels

8–17 mm.

6–22 mm.

Flowers

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.

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

erect, cylindrical, slightly curved, 180–350 × 50–80 mm, shallowly corrugated over seeds, dehiscing apically downward.

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

Seeds

brown, rhomboid.

brown, obovoid or oblong-obovoid.

2n

= 28.

Senna covesii

Senna lindheimeriana

Phenology Flowering late winter–early fall. Flowering spring–fall.
Habitat Sandy and gravelly desert washes, slopes, and stony hills, disturbed desert roadsides. Stony hillsides, desert washes, Larrea scrub, mesquite grasslands, chaparral.
Elevation 0–1200 m. (0–3900 ft.) 0–1900(–2100) m. (0–6200(–6900) ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; NM; NV; Mexico (Baja California, Sinaloa, Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Sonora, Tamaulipas)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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. corymbosa, 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 covesii, Earleocassia covesii Cassia lindheimeriana, Earleocassia lindeheimeriana
Name authority (A. Gray) H. S. Irwin & Barneby: Phytologia 44: 499. (1979) (Scheele) H. S. Irwin & Barneby: Phytologia 44: 500. (1979)
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