Senna cumingii var. eremobia

Title

Senna cumingii var. eremobia

Authors

Howard S. Irwin, Rupert C. Barneby

Scientific Name

Senna cumingii var. eremobia (Phil.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby

Description

98b. Senna cumingii (Hooker & Arnottt) var. eremobia (Philippi) Irwin & Barneby, stat. nov. Cassia eremobia Philippi, Anal. Univ. Chile 84: 443. 1893.—"In deserto Atacama l. d. Breas [inland from Taltal near 25°30'S] invenit Alamirano Larranaga."—Holotypus seen at SGO by Johnston (Contrib. Gray Herb. n. ser. 85: 48. 1929).

Pubescence and fls of var. cumingii, but the lfts all relatively short and broad, as described in key, the secondary venulation of the upper face commonly prominulous.—Collections: 4.

Rock outcrops on the coastal plain and stony beds of quebradas in the foothills of the Coastal Cordillera between ±25° and 25°30'S in s. Antofagasta, Chile.— Fl. X-XII.

The var. eremobia owes its individuality of facies solely to its condensed and diminished foliage, for the flowers and pods are identical to those of var. cumingii, which reaches its northern known limit in the same latitudes, at the mouth of Taltal river. The modification of leaves appears a slight and easy step, for occasional axillary branchlets of otherwise typical var. cumingii (cf. Bridges 1295, BM) bear leaves of the same compressed type and leaflets of some upper vigorous leaves of the widely distributed Werdermann 844 are plainly transitional in outline.