Cassia hebecarpa Fernald

  • Authority

    Isley, Duane. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25 (2): 1-228.

  • Family

    Caesalpiniaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Cassia hebecarpa Fernald

  • Description

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    Species Description - Robust, usually pubescent, perennial herb with 1-several stems .5-1.4 m from woody rootstocks. Pubescence conspicuous to essentially absent, of pilose hairs ca 1 mm; leaflets often ciliate but surface glabrate. Leafstalk 1.2-2 dm, with a short-columnar, clavate to distinctly stalked proximal petiolar gland; leaflets 6-8 pairs, elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate, mostly 3-4 cm, 2.3-3.5 r, mucronulate. Stipules narrowly subulate, deciduous. Flowers 9-20 in ample axillary and terminally corymbose-paniculate racemes. Pedicels initially recurved, the buds nodding, and becoming divergent in flower, 1.2-1.5 cm; sepals unequal, the longer 5-6 mm; corolla yellow, 16-20 mm diam, slightly irregular; functional stamens 7, filaments approximating anthers; ovary lanate with hairs 1 mm. Legume dehiscent, oblong-falcate, flat, 7-10 cm long, 5-7 mm wide, pilose when immature; valves black, thick-papery, transversely impressed-segmented, the segments nearly square. Seeds numerous.

  • Discussion

    Cassia hebecarpa var. longipila Braun (1940) C. marilandica auct. Ditremexa marilandica (L.) Britt. & Rose (1930) excl. basionym Cassia herhecarpa extends further east and north than the similar C. marilandica but their ranges overlap (Maps 40, 48). I do not have sufficient information to confirm the ecological and phenological isolation of these species inferred by Shafer (1904) and Fernald (1937). Some material suggests limited introgression. I refer sterile specimens to C. hebecarpa if they have any pilose pubescence or(and) if the petiolar gland is distinctly elongate (short-cylindric to stalked).

  • Distribution

    E temperate U.S.: New England, s Wisconsin, Tennessee, North Carolina. Stream bottoms and banks, swampy meadows, roadside ditches or drier disturbed open areas, relatively local; slightly in cult. July-Aug.

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