Senna occidentalis |
Senna orcuttii |
|
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coffee senna, septicweed |
Orcutt's senna |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, bushy, to 2.2 m; branches dark green and blackish. | Herbs, perennial, to 0.6 m. Leaves slightly sclerophyllous, 5–10 cm, dull glaucescent, sparsely hairy; stipules caducous, 1–3 mm wide; extrafloral nectaries between all leaflet pairs, stipitate; leaflet pairs 3–6, blades oblong- or ovate-elliptic, 15–40 ×7–13 mm. |
Leaves | mesophyllous, 11–26 cm, glabrous or glabrate; stipules caducous; extrafloral nectary 1, base of petiole, sessile or subsessile; leaflet pairs 4 or 5(or 6), blades lanceolate- or ovate-acuminate, 45–100 × 12–38 mm. |
|
Racemes | usually (1 or)2–5-flowered; bracts caducous, longer than bud, often blackish green. |
usually 5–25-flowered; bracts caducous. |
Pedicels | 8–21 mm. |
0–5 mm. |
Flowers | monosymmetric; calyx pinkish or fuscous; corolla yellow, longest petal 12–17 mm; androecium heterantherous, stamens 6, staminodes 3 + 1; anthers of middle stamens 3.2–5.2 mm, of abaxial stamens 4.9–6.6 mm, elongated beyond pores, dehiscing by U-shaped pore, apical appendage linguiform, thickened; gynoecium incurved, ovules 40–60; ovary densely hairy; style slightly incurved. |
monosymmetric (similar to S. lindheimeriana but smaller); calyx usually pale green, rarely yellow; corolla yellow, longest petal 8–10.5 mm; androecium heterantherous, stamens 7, staminodes 3; anthers 3–5 mm, dehiscing by 1 apical pore, apical appendage 0; gynoecium linear, ovules unknown; ovary densely hairy; style incurved. |
Legumes | ascending, flat, slightly curved or straight, linear, 80–135 × 6.5–9.5 mm, corrugated over seeds, dehiscent. |
erect, flat, straight or slightly incurved, 40–120 × 3.5–6.5 mm, shallowly corrugated over seeds, dehiscent. |
Seeds | olive green or brownish, obovoid. |
brown, obovoid or oblong-obovoid. |
2n | = 26, 28. |
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Senna occidentalis |
Senna orcuttii |
|
Phenology | Flowering mid summer–early winter. | Flowering spring–summer. |
Habitat | Disturbed habitats, waste places, roadsides. | Stony hillsides, canyon floors. |
Elevation | 0–1200 m. (0–3900 ft.) | 1300–1800 m. (4300–5900 ft.) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; LA; MA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NY; OK; SC; TN; TX; VA; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies [Introduced in North America; introduced also in tropical and subtropical Eurasia, Africa, Australia]
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NM; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila) |
Discussion | Although Senna occidentalis is probably native to the tropical New World, the species is now weedy in so many countries worldwide, including also other parts of the New World, that the exact range of its geographic distribution as a native is a matter of speculation (H. S. Irwin and R. C. Barneby 1982). In the flora area, it is considered as naturalized (R. Kral et al. 2012; R. (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 occidentalis, Ditremexa occidentalis | Peiranisia orcuttii, Cassia orcuttii |
Name authority | (Linnaeus) Link: Handbuch 2: 140. (1829) | (Britton & Rose) H. S. Irwin & Barneby: Phytologia 44: 500. (1979) |
Web links |