Flora of North America species comparison

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Senna pendula

Senna pendula var. glabrata

climbing cassia, valamuerto
Photo is of parent taxon

valamuerto
Habit Shrubs, to 3(–5) m. Leaves mesophyllous, 5–13 cm, glabrous or glabrate; stipules caducous; extrafloral nectaries 1(or 2), between first, rarely also subsequent, leaflet pairs, sessile; leaflet pairs 4 or 5(–7), blades obovate or oblanceolate to elliptic-oblanceolate, 25–65 × 9–23 mm.
Racemes

usually 4–35-flowered;

bracts caducous.
Pedicels

8–33 mm.
Flowers

monosymmetric;

calyx yellowish;

corolla golden yellow, longest petal 16–26 mm;

androecium heterantherous, stamens 7, middle stamens 1/2 as long as abaxial or smaller, staminodes 3;

anthers of middle stamens to 5–7 mm, of abaxial stamens 7–10 mm, dehiscing by U-shaped pore, apical appendage inconspicuous;

gynoecium incurved, ovules 70–96;

ovary hairy;

style slightly incurved.
Legumes

somewhat pendulous, subcylindrical, straight, 90–160 × 9–16 mm, corrugated over seeds, indehiscent.
Seeds

obliquely obovoid, brown or dark reddish brown.
Senna

pendula is often confused with close relative S. bicapsularis, which is absent from North America and has shorter pedicels, only to 5 mm (H.

s

. Irwin and R.

c

.

Barneby

1982;

B.

Marazzi

et al.

2006b

).

Senna pendula

Senna pendula var. glabrata
Phenology Flowering late winter–early summer.
Habitat Grasslands, disturbed woodlands, roadsides.
Elevation 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.)
Distribution
from USDA
Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies [Introduced, Florida; introduced also in Africa (South Africa), Pacific Islands, Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
FL; TX; South America (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay) [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 18–20 (1 in the flora).

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

Variety glabrata is native to South American grasslands. Among southeastern South American varieties, var. glabrata belongs with var. missionum H. S. Irwin & Barneby (endemic to northeast Argentina) and var. recondita H. S. Irwin & Barneby (endemic to coastal southeast Brazil) to a group characterized by a longer style (5–10 mm) compared to that of the other varieties in the region, var. ambigua and var. paludicola H. S. Irwin & Barneby (1.5–5 mm). The subcylindrical fruits distinguish var. glabrata from the other two varieties that have laterally compressed fruits (H. S. Irwin and R. C. Barneby 1982).

The Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council (https://www.fleppc.org/) listed var. glabrata as a Category I weedy species, meaning that it is invading and disrupting native plant communities in Florida. According to H. S. Irwin and R. C. Barneby (1982), the Mexican and Central American var. ovalifolia H. S. Irwin & Barneby may have escaped from cultivation in Florida, as well as occurring as an adventive in the very south of Texas. However, var. ovalifolia is not repor

(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 > Senna pendula
Sibling taxa
S. alata, S. armata, S. artemisioides, S. atomaria, 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. pilosior, S. pumilio, S. ripleyana, S. roemeriana, S. surattensis, S. wislizeni
Subordinate taxa
S. pendula var. glabrata
Synonyms Cassia pendula, Chamaefistula pendula Cassia indecora var. glabrata, C. coluteoides
Name authority (Humboldt & Bonpland ex Willdenow) H. S. Irwin & Barneby: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 35: 378. (1982) (Vogel) H. S. Irwin & Barneby: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 35: 382. (1982)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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