Senna surattensis (Burm.F.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby

Glossy shower (en), Cassia glauque (fr)

Species

Angiosperms > Fabales > Fabaceae > Senna

Characteristics

Shrubs or small trees, 5-7 m tall. Bark grayish brown, smooth; young branches, petioles, and rachises of leaves pu­berulent. Leaves 10-15 cm, with 2 or 3 clavate, long glands 1-2 mm on rachis between lowest 2 or 3 pairs of leaflets and in upper part of petiole; stipules subpersistent, linear, 5-10 mm; leaflets 6-9 pairs, abaxially farina-white, ovate to ovate-oblong, 2-5 × 1-1.7 cm, abaxially sparsely pubescent, adaxially gla­brous, base rounded, apex rounded, slightly emarginate. Ra­cemes in axils of apical leaves, 3-6 cm, 10-15-flowered; pe­duncles 2.5-5 cm; bracts ovate-oblong, 5-8 mm, outside puber­ulent, finally reflexed. Pedicels 1-2 cm. Sepals unequal, 2 outer suborbicular, ca. 3 mm in diam., 3 inner obovate, to 7 mm. Petals bright yellow to deep yellow, subequal, ovate to obovate, 1.5-2 cm, with long claw 1-1.5 mm. Stamens 10, all fertile, with short, thick filaments, lowest 2 filaments longer; anthers oblong, subequal, 5-7 mm, opening by apical slits. Ovary pu­berulent; style glabrous. Legume flat, strap-shaped, dehiscent, 7-10 × 0.8-1.5 cm, long slender beaked, valves papery. Seeds 10-25, glossy, flattened. 2n = 48, 56.
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Shrub or small tree up to 7 m tall; young branches puberulous. Stipules linear falcate, 5-10 mm long, subpersistent. Leaves with 6-9 pairs of leaflets; petioles 1.5-3 cm; rachis up to 15 cm with a clavate, 1-2 mm long gland between the 2 or 3 lower pairs of leaflets. Leaflets with short petiolule, ovate to ovate-oblong, 2.5-4 by 1-1.7 cm; upper surface glabrous, lower sparsely pubescent; apex rounded, more or less slightly emarginate, base rounded, rarely cuneate. Racemes from the upper leaf axils, 3-6 cm long, 10-15-flowered; peduncle 2.5-5 cm; bracts ovate acute, 4-5 mm long, finally reflexed; pedicels 1-2 cm. Sepals: 2 outer more or less orbicular, c. 3 mm long; 3 inner obovate up to 7 mm long. Petals yellow, subequal, ovate-obovate, 1.5-2 cm long with a 1-1.5 mm long, narrow claw. Stamens 10 fertile, with short, thick filaments, 1-4 mm long; anthers subequal, 5-7 mm long, opening by apical slits. Ovary puberulous; style glabrous; stigma indistinct. Pods flat, glabrous with papery valves, 7-10 by 1-1.5 cm. Seeds 15-25, glossy flattened, 8 by 4 mm.
Shrub or small tree to 11 m high, variably golden-pubescent or glabrescent. Leaves 5–15 (–20) cm long including a channelled petiole 20–40 (–65) mm long; stipules acicular, usually caducous; leaflets in 4–10 pairs spaced c. 15 mm apart, elliptic to slightly obovate, (20–) 25–75 (–100) mm long, 10–20 mm wide, increasing distally, obtuse, rounded or emarginate; glands 2–5, between the lowest leaflet pairs, stipitate. Inflorescence subumbellate, of 4–10 flowers, in upper axils; peduncle 20–60 mm long; pedicels 15–30 mm long; bracts ± persistent. Petals 10–24 (–30) mm long. Fertile stamens 10; filaments subequal, 1–2 mm long, or 1 longer (to 5 mm); anthers subequal, 5–6 mm long. Pod flat, 8–15 cm long, 10–15 mm wide, straight, entire. Seeds glossy, with a linear areole.
A shrub or small tree. It grows 2-7 m tall. It spreads to 4 m across. The branches can have hairs or be smooth. The leaflets are in 4-7 pairs. They are 3-10 cm long by 1.5-5 cm wide. The leaf axis has glands between the lower 2-4 pairs of leaflets. The flower cluster is 5-13 cm long with 10-20 flowers. The petals are yellow and 2-3 cm long. The fruit are flat and thin. They are 15-20 cm long and 1.2-1.8 cm wide. They can be straight or curved. The pods are divided by partitions. The seeds are blackish and 9-10 mm long by 3.5-4 mm wide. They are shiny. The seed scar is one sided and nearly at the end of the seed.
Life form perennial
Growth form tree
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention -
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) 4.0
Mature height (meter) 5.0 - 7.0
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

A tropical plant. In Papua New Guinea it occurs between 15 and 50 m altitude. It can be up to 300 m above sea level. It requires rich, moist, well drained soil. It does best in a sunny position. It is drought and frost tender. In XTBG Yunnan.
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Teak forest and marshy soils, at elevations up to 300 metres.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 8-12

Usage

The tender young leaves are cooked and eaten with rice.
Uses environmental use food material medicinal ornamental shade
Edible leaves
Therapeutic use Central nervous system depressants (aerial part), Diuretics (aerial part), Diabetes mellitus (bark), Gonorrhea (bark), Antifungal agents (leaf), Diabetes mellitus (leaf), Gonorrhea (leaf), Jaundice (leaf), General tonic for rejuvenation (leaf), Diabetes mellitus (root), Gonorrhea (unspecified), Diuretics (unspecified), Central nervous system diseases (whole plant excluding root)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Plants are grown from seed. The seed need to have the hard seed coat broken before planting. It can also be grown by air-layering.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment soaking
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Leaf

Senna surattensis leaf picture by Virendra Singh Shekhawat (cc-by-sa)
Senna surattensis leaf picture by Joel Yuvienco (cc-by-sa)
Senna surattensis leaf picture by Dieter Albrecht (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Senna surattensis flower picture by Abdul Rehman Alvi (cc-by-sa)
Senna surattensis flower picture by Hugo SANTACREU (cc-by-sa)
Senna surattensis flower picture by Dieter Albrecht (cc-by-sa)

Fruit

Senna surattensis fruit picture by Dieter Albrecht (cc-by-sa)
Senna surattensis fruit picture by Dieter Albrecht (cc-by-sa)
Senna surattensis fruit picture by Dieter Albrecht (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Senna surattensis world distribution map, present in Angola, Australia, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Cook Islands, Ghana, Indonesia, India, Kenya, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Myanmar, Northern Mariana Islands, Mauritius, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Réunion, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Togo, Thailand, Tonga, Taiwan, Province of China, Tanzania, United Republic of, United States of America, Viet Nam, and Zimbabwe

Conservation status

Senna surattensis threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:911423-1
WFO ID wfo-0000178516
COL ID 6YGRJ
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID 447054
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Psilorhegma suffruticosa Cassia surattensis Psilorhegma suffruticosa Cassia fastigiata Cassia suffruticosa Cassia galuca Cassia surattensis subsp. suffruticosa Cassia galuca var. suffruticosa Cassia galuca var. koenigii Cassia surattensis var. suffruticosa Cassia spinigera var. suffruticosa Cassia glauca var. suffruticosa Senna surattensis var. suffruticosa Senna surattensis

Lower taxons

Senna surattensis var. glauca