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

  • Type

    Holotypus, NY!

  • Synonyms

    Cassia chapmanii Isely

  • Description

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    Variety Description - Shrubs 0.8-2.5(-3) m, perhaps (Isely, l.c.) rarely arborescent to 8 m, appearing glabrous but the firmly membranous or subcoriaceous lfts bearing dorsally in the distal basal angle of midrib a tuft of incurved-ascending hairs up to 0.2-0.5 mm and ventrally or on both faces a few random minute orange or livid trichomes, their margins sometimes remotely ciliolate; lvs (5-)6-12.5(-14) cm; petiole, measured to gland, (4-)7-21(-24) mm; gland either between or (in some distal lvs) below first pair, sessile or almost so, hemispherical or globose or broadly ovoid, very obtuse, in profile (0.6-)0.8-1.5 mm, nearly as broad or broader; lfts (2-)3-6 but of most lvs exactly 4 or 5 pairs, the distal pair obliquely lanceolate, lance- elliptic, or narrowly ovate, (24-)30-54 x (6.5-)7-15(-16) mm, (2.7-)3-4.5(-4.8) times as long as wide; body of pod (5-)6- 10(- 12) x (0.5-)0.55-0.8(-0.9) cm.— Collections: 68. [Key: "Larger lvs 3-12.5(-14) cm, if over 9 cm the lfts not over 7 pairs; lfts (2-)3-7(-8) pairs. Hispaniola, Cuba, Bahamas and Florida. Margin of lfts not thickened; petiolar gland sessile or almost so; range as just given. Lfts (2-)3-6, of most lvs exactly 4 or 5 pairs, those of distal pair 24-54 x 7-20 mm; peduncle with raceme-axis together (1-)1.5-7.5 cm; pod 5.5-8(-9) mm wide; Cuba, Bahamas, Florida. Lfts relatively narrow, the distal pair prevailingly lance-elliptic, (24-)30-54 x ±715 mm, ±3-4.5 times as long as wide; Cuba, n.-w. Bahamas, Florida."]

    Distribution and Ecology - Pine savanna, sandy or rocky strand, and coppice on coral limestones, below 15 m, locally plentiful and becoming weedy in disturbed brush, s. peninsular Florida and the Keys in Dade and Monroe cos., s.-e. through the Bahamas from Bimini I. to Great Ragged, Long I. and San Salvador (Watling’s); scattered along the n. coast of Cuba from Archipelago de Camaguey to Bahfa de Banes in Oriente (±75°30'-78°W).—Fl. abundantly IX-IV, intermittently throughout the year.

  • Discussion

    In the protologue Isely described seven stamens as fertile, but the central anterior one is, in our experience, consistently sterile as in other varieties of S. mexicana. The variety was first encountered, in the Bahamas, in 1732 by Samuel Dale (BM).

  • Distribution

    Florida United States of America North America| Long Island Bahamas South America| San Salvador Bahamas South America| Oriente Cuba South America| Camagüey Cuba South America|