Senna pendula var. eriocarpa

  • Title

    Senna pendula var. eriocarpa

  • Authors

    Howard S. Irwin, Rupert C. Barneby

  • Scientific Name

    Senna pendula var. eriocarpa (Griseb.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby

  • Description

    126f. Senna pendula (Willendow) var. eriocarpa (Grisebach) Irwin & Barneby, comb. nov. Cassia bicapsularis var. eriocarpa Grisebach, Pl. Lorentz, 81. 1874.—"[Lorentz] 246 . . . Tucuman . . . inter Yerba buena et Siambon."—Holotypus not seen; presumed isotypus (Lasseigne, l.c. infra), Lorentz & Hieronymus 1041, F!—Cassia pendula var. eriocarpa (Grisebach) Lasseigne, Iselya 1(1): 9. 1979.

    Weak shrubs up to 3(-?) m, the submembranous lfts glabrous above, pilosulous beneath only along midrib and in its anterior basal angle with loose straightish hairs to 0.5-1 mm; petiolar glands (much eaten) at all but the distal pair of lfts; lfts (3-)4-5 pairs, the distal pair 2.5—4.5 x 1.2-2.4 cm, their secondary camptodrome veins 7-9 pairs, the tertiary reticulation 0 above, faint and irregular beneath; longest sepal 5.5-6 mm; longest petal 11-13 mm; blade of staminodes 1.2-1.5 x ±1.2 mm; long filaments 8.5-10 mm, their anther 5.5-6.5 x 1.1 mm, its beak 0.4-0.6 x 0.7-0.9 mm; ovary densely pilose-tomentulose, the glabrous style 5.5-6 mm; ovules 74-88; body of pod ±7-8 x 1-1.2 cm, terete, the seeds biseriate.—Collections: 8.

    Habitat little known, but to be expected in thickets and on riverbanks or shores, reaching 1200 m in Salta, scattered along the foothills of the Argentine Andes from Salta to Tucuman.—Fl. XII-III.

    The var. eriocarpa was originally picked out for description from the mass of variants of the Senna bicapsularis-pendula complex because of its densely woolly ovary, but this can be matched elsewhere in S. pendula sens. lat. and we maintain the variety for other reasons. It seems closely allied to var. praeandina, which replaces it in the more humid Andean foothills in Bolivia and Peru; both have petiolar glands between all but the distal pair of leaflets and longistylous flowers. The perianth of var. eriocarpa, is, however, substantially smaller and the little obtusely pentagonal staminode blades are scarcely half as long. The range of the variety stands apart from that of all other forms of S. pendula. The only sympatric near relative is S. subulata, readily distinguished by the dilated foliaceous stipules.