Senna

  • Authority

    Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

  • Family

    Caesalpiniaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Senna

  • Description

    Genus Description - Trees, erect or climbing shrubs or herbs. Leaves pinnate; leaflets opposite; petioles and rachis grooved, usually with a stipitate gland; stipules persistent. Flowers bisexual, small to large, in axillary or terminal racemes or panicles or solitary; bracts minute to foliaceous; pedicels short to elongate; calyx of 5 sepals; corolla yellow, irregular, of 5 unequal, dimorphic, free, clawed petals; stamens 10, 3 usually smaller and not fertile, the filaments flattened, free, the anthers basifixed, opening by terminal pores; ovary shortly stipitate, with few ovules. Legume variously shaped, dehiscent or indehiscent; seeds many, variously shaped.

    Distribution and Ecology - A genus of about 260 species, most of which are neotropical.