Senna hirsuta var. hirta H.S.Irwin & Barneby

Authors

Howard S. Irwin, Rupert C. Barneby

Authority

Irwin, Howard S. & Barneby, Rupert C. 1982. The American Cassiinae. A synoptical revision of Leguminosae tribe Cassieae subtrib Cassiinae in the New World. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 35, part 1: 1-454.

Family

Caesalpiniaceae

Scientific Name

Senna hirsuta var. hirta H.S.Irwin & Barneby

Type

Lectoholotypus, Oersted s.n. e. Costa Rica, K (hb. Benth.)! = NY Neg. 1415; paratypus orbignyanus = S. hirsuta var. puberula, q.v.—Non S. hirsuta var. hirsuta.

Synonyms

Cassia leptocarpa var. hirsuta Benth., Senna hirsuta var. puberula H.S.Irwin & Barneby, Cassia pubigera Lag., Cassia hirsuta L., Senna hirsuta var. hirta H.S.Irwin & Barneby

Description

Variety Description - Hirsute-hirsutulous up to the pod with straight erect or loosely ascending lustrous hairs up to 0.6-2.3(-2.8), the lfts pubescent (even though only thinly so) on both faces, the vesture of the pod varying from hirsute like the foliage and stems to subappressed-pilosulous or strigulose; petioles (1.2-) 1.5-6.5 cm; rachis (3-)4.5- 12(- 16) cm; lfts 3-5(-6) pairs, the distal pair ovate-, rhombic-ovate- or lance-elliptic-acuminate or -caudate 4.5-10.5 x (1.4-)1.6-4 cm, (1.7-)2.1-4(-4.3) times as long as wide; peduncles (0-) 1-12(- 18) mm; racemes 2-8-fld, the axis becoming 0-21 mm; longer sepals 6.5-9.5(-10) mm; longer petals (10-) 11-15 mm; ovules (58-)62-108; pod (14-) 15-27 x 0.25-0.45(-0.5) cm, simply, often strongly arched outward.—Collections: 111. [Key: "Lfts pubescent on both faces and cili(ol)ate, the longer hairs 0.4-2.8 mm. Vesture of lfts hirsute, the hairs straight, spreading or ascending, highly lustrous, the longest 0.6-2.8 mm; equatorial S. America n.-w. and n. to tropical Mexico and W. Indies, s. infrequently and interruptedly in Brazil and Bolivia to ±17°S. Pod slender, usually elongate and curved out- or both out- and downward, (14-) 15-27 x 0.25-0.45(-0.5) cm; Mexico and w. Cuba s.-e. through Central America to n. Colombia, thence s. along the Andes to n.-w. Bolivia, in S. America essentially cordilleran."]

Distribution and Ecology - Openings in tropical brush-woodland and along stream-banks and beaches, now everywhere commonest in secondary and ruderal habitats, becoming abundant in over-grazed pasture, along roads and fences, in fallow fields and about towns and farmyards, ascending from the tropical lowlands to ±1400-1600 m in Mexico, Central America, Ecuador and Bolivia, discontinuously widespread in Mexico from the Gulf slope in San Luis Potosi and the periphery of Balsas Depression to Yucatan and Chiapas, rarely n.-w. to the Lerma valley in Michoacan and to Sa. Surutato (near 26°N) in Sinaloa; w. Cuba (Matanzas, La Habana, Pinar del Rio), perhaps only weedy; scattered through Central America from Guatemala to Panama; thence s. through the Magdalena and Cauca valleys in Colombia to montane and coastal Ecuador, and s.-e. along the Amazon slope of the Andes to Bolivia (Beni, La Paz, Cochabamba), there reaching 17°30'S and passing into var. puberula; occasional in ruderal or roadside habitats in s.-e. Brazil (coastal Bahia, s. Goias, e. Sao Paulo).—Fl. in N. Amer. primarily VIII-II, in S. Amer. III—VIII, but especially in the lowlands sporadically or even continuously through the year.

Discussion

The var. hirta is the form of S. hirsuta most widely dispersed in the Americas, that commonly referred to northward from Panama as Cassia leptocarpa or, with greater precision, C. leptocarpa hirsuta. Judging from its erratic dispersal in the tierra caliente, we suppose that its natural range must have been cordilleran, probably in both hemispheres, because there are perceptible but minor pubescence-phases proper to each; but its weedy proclivities preclude anything but conjecture about its geographic origins. Morphologically var. hirta stands between var. hirsuta, with which its range overlaps only in northern Colombia and adjoining Panama, and var. puberula, vicariant southward from near 17°S in Bolivia. The longer narrower pod alone distinguishes it from var. hirsuta, and the vesture of straight shining hairs from var. puberula.

Common Names

Mano de muerto, disiplinilla , zalche , viche , pico de pajaro

Distribution

San Luis Potosí Mexico North America| Yucatán Mexico North America| Chiapas Mexico North America| Michoacán Mexico North America| Sinaloa Mexico North America| Matanzas Cuba South America| La Habana Cuba South America| Piñar del Río Cuba South America| Beni Bolivia South America| La Paz Bolivia South America| Cochabamba Bolivia South America| Bahia Brazil South America| Goiás Brazil South America| São Paulo Brazil South America| Ecuador South America| Panama Central America| Guatemala Central America|