Senna silvestris subsp. silvestris var. sapindifolia

Authors

Howard S. Irwin, Rupert C. Barneby

Authority

Irwin, Howard S. & Barneby, Rupert C. 1982. The American Cassiinae. A synoptical revision of Leguminosae tribe Cassieae subtrib Cassiinae in the New World. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 35, part 1: 1-454.

Discussion

3b. Senna silvestris (Vellozo) subsp, silvestris var. sapindifolia (Vogel) Irwin & Barneby, stat. nov. Cassia sapindifolia Vogel, Syn. Gen. Cass. 34 & Linnaea 11: 677, descr. ampliat. 1837.—"In Brasilia: Sellow leg."— Holotypus, †B = F Neg. 1742! neoholotypus, former isotypus, K! = NY Neg. 1468.

Cassia sapindifolia sensu Bentham, 1870, p. 124; 1871, p. 549.

Subarborescent shrubs 2-8 m becoming sarmentose in forest, rufescent-strig- ulose with ascending or appressed hairs to 0.2-0.4(-0.5) mm, the lfts glabrous on both faces or remotely strigulose along principal veins beneath, the reticulation of both faces prominulous; lvs (1.6-)2-3.2 dm; lfts (3-)4-5 pairs, the larger (distal or penultimate) ones symmetrically ovate or oblong-ovate shortly acuminate 7-12.5 x 3-6(-6.5) cm, 1.8-2.5 times as long as wide; fls relatively large, the long inner sepals 10-12 mm, the pure yellow petals 17-23 mm; long anthers 7.5-8.5 mm; ovary glabrous; ovules 44-60; body of pod 20-24 x 1.7-2.2 cm, the locules 1-seriate or a very few laterally displaced.—Collections: 16.

Coastal rain forest below 50 m, scattered along a strip within ±15 km of the Atlantic between 13° and 30°S in Bahia and Espirito Santo.—Fl. XI-III.

The var. Sapindifolia is visually striking because of its relatively few and ample leaflets, but in the inflorescence, in vesture, and in fine detail of the flower, pod and seed it is not different from var. silvestris. A parallel but not quite so extreme modification of the foliage is described above as a minor variant of var. silvestris, sympatric with the typical form in the upper Madeira Basin.