Photo Courtesy: Marty Strenges

Bahama Cassia / Bahama Senna

Senna mexicana (Jacquin) H.S. Irwin & Barneby var. chapmanii (Isley) H.S. Irwin & Barneby

SEN-na   mex-uh-KA-na   var   chap-MAN-ee-eye

Caesalpiniaceae (Legumes)

Key to Senna Mill.

Synonym: Cassia chapmanii Isely                              (WU2)

Explanation of name: Senna is a Greek work adapted from the Arabic word sana which means tender tree or shrub.(AUS,PBCC)   Mexicana means of Mexico. Chapmanii is named after Alvin Wentworth Chapman (1809-1899) who wrote the first flora of the southeastern United States (AUS, STE).

Natural range: South Florida, Bahamas, Cuba (ISE, IRC)

Recognition: Small spreading shrub.  Leaves pinnate with 4-5 pairs of elliptic leaflets, to 1/2"-1" long.  Flowers yellow, showy, 1" to 1-½" wide, in racemes of 3-12  flowers. Fruit brown pod, 3"-5" long (ISE, IRW, IRC).

Landscape uses: Specimen shrub, accent ground cover, rock gardens  (IRC)