Senna alata (L.) Roxb.
-
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
-
Description
Species Description - Shrub to 3 m tall, many-branched from base. Leaves 20-35 cm long; leaflets opposite, 5-12 pairs, 6-16 x 3-8.5 cm, oblong to obovate, chartaceous, puberulent on lower surface, the apex obtuse to rounded, notched, the base strongly asymmetric, rounded-cuneate, the margins entire; rachis nearly quadrangular, without glands; stipules persistent, lanceolate to triangular, asymmetric at base, with one side nearly auriculate. Flowers congested along axillary racemes; pedicels 0.7-1.1 cm long; bracts 2.2-2.5 cm long, petal-like, yellow, early deciduous. Sepals yellow, petallike, concave, oblong-obovate, 1-1.2 cm long, early deciduous; petals yellow, 1.5—2.2 cm long, concave, obovate, clawed, obtuse at apex, the lower central petal longer; stamens 10, dimorphic, 7 of them longer and fertile, all much shorter than the petals; ovary pubescent, the style incurved, the stigma green. Legume 10-17 cm long, oblong, with a longitudinal wing along dorsal side of each valve, septate, beaked at apex, dehiscent. Seeds wedgeshaped, ca. 6 mm long, brown.
-
Discussion
Common names: candle bush, Christmas candle, fleiti, golden candlestick, ringworm bush, saparilla.
-
Distribution
Uncommon shrub of moist open areas, sometimes grown in gardens. Cruz Bay (A4063). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Tortola;
Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Tortola Virgin Islands South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America|