Senna phyllodinea is a species of flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae, and is endemic to arid areas of inland Australia. It is a spreading, bushy shrub with its leaves reduced to curved phyllodes, and yellow flowers arranged in racemes with ten fertile stamens in each flower.

Senna phyllodinea
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
Genus: Senna
Species:
S. phyllodinea
Binomial name
Senna phyllodinea
Synonyms[1]

Cassia phyllodinea R.Br.

Habit in San Diego Botanic Garden

Description

edit

Senna phyllodinea is a spreading, bushy shrub that typically grows to a height of up to 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in). Immature plants have pinnate leaves, but the leaves in mature plants are reduced to curved phyllodes 15–60 mm (0.59–2.36 in) long and 2–8 mm (0.079–0.315 in) wide, covered with silvery hairs pressed against the surface. The flowers are yellow and arranged in racemes near the ends of the branches, the petals 7–10 mm (0.28–0.39 in) long with ten fertile stamens in each flower. Flowering occurs all year and the fruit is a flat, curved pod 30–100 mm (1.2–3.9 in) long and 8–13 mm (0.31–0.51 in) wide.[2][3]

Taxonomy

edit

This species was first formally described in 1849 by Robert Brown who gave it the name Cassia phyllodinea in Charles Sturt's Narrative of an Expedition into Central Australia, from specimens Sturt collected near Spencer Gulf in 1802.[4] In 1998, David Eric Symon transferred the species to Senna as Senna phyllodinea in the Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens.[5]

Distribution and habitat

edit

Senna phyllodinea grows in a variety of soils in arid areas of western New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory.[2][3][6][7]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Senna phyllodinea". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  2. ^ a b Wiecek, Barbara. "Senna phyllodinea". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Cassia phyllodinea". State Herbarium of South Australia. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  4. ^ "Cassia phyllodinea". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  5. ^ "Senna phyllodinea". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  6. ^ "Senna phyllodinea". Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  7. ^ "Senna phyllodinea (Leguminosae)". Seeds of South Australia. Retrieved 15 August 2023.