Senna cladophylla is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and native to Western Australia and the Northern Territory. It is a perennial herb or undershrub with pinnate leaves with two or three pairs of broadly elliptic leaflets, and yellow flowers arranged in pairs, with ten fertile stamens in each flower.
| Senna cladophylla | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Caesalpinioideae |
| Genus: | Senna |
| Species: | S. cladophylla
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| Binomial name | |
| Senna cladophylla | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Description
editSenna cladophylla is a spreading, perennial herb or subshrub that typically grows to a height of up to 30 cm (12 in), its stems and foliage softly-hairy. The leaves are pinnate, 30–50 mm (1.2–2.0 in) long on a petiole 5–8 mm (0.20–0.31 in) long with two or three pairs of broadly elliptic leaflets 12–15 mm (0.47–0.59 in) long and 8–10 mm (0.31–0.39 in) wide. There are persistent heart-shaped or ear-shaped stipules at the base of the petioles. The flowers are yellow and arranged in pairs in leaf axils on a peduncle 25–30 mm (0.98–1.18 in) long, each flower on a pedicel 10–12 mm (0.39–0.47 in) long. The petals are 6–8 mm (0.24–0.31 in) long and there are ten fertile stamens, the anthers 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in) long and of different lengths. Flowering occurs from February to July, and the fruit is a flattened, curved pod 25–40 mm (0.98–1.57 in) long.[2][3][4][5]
Taxonomy
editThis species was first formally described in 1918 by William Vincent Fitzgerald who gave it the name Cassia cladophylla in the Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Western Australia.[6][7] In 1998, Barbara Rae Randell and Bryan Alwyn Barlow transferred the species to Senna as Senna cladophylla in the Flora of Australia.[3][8] The specific epithet (cladophylla) refers to the individual leaves resembling a short, leafy branch.[9]
Distribution and habitat
editSenna cladophylla grows in moist, rocky soil in the Kimberley region of northern Western Australia and in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.[2][4]
References
edit- ^ a b "Senna cladophylla". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- ^ a b "Senna cladophylla". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- ^ a b Randell, Barbara R.; Barlow, Bryan A. (1998). Orchard, Anthony E. (ed.). Flora of Australia (PDF). Vol. 12. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service. p. 121. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- ^ a b "Senna cladophylla". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
- ^ "Senna cladophylla". Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- ^ "Cassia cladophylla". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- ^ Fitzgerald, William V. (1918). "The Botany of the Kimberleys, north-west Australia". Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Western Australia. 3: 147–148. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- ^ "Senna cladophylla". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 164. ISBN 9780958034180.