Cassia spectabilis DC.

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 spectabilis DC.

Description

Species Description - Tree; new growth and inflorescence axes puberulent to tomentose, foliage puberulous beneath. Leafstalk eglandular, 2-3 dm; leaflets 8— 13(— 15) pairs, petioluled, ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, 4-6 cm, 2.5-3.8 r, acute or subacuminate, apex symmetric or slightly oblique and minutely mucronulate or not. Stipules narrowly falcate, early deciduous. Flowers in usually congested axillary racemes. Pedicels 1.5-2(-2.5) cm; sepals unequal, the outer ca 4 mm, inner petal-oid, ca 8 mm; corolla yellow, fading whitish, irregular, 2.4-4.5(-5) cm diam; stamens 7, of about equal length, the yellow anthers exceeding the filaments. Legume slowly dehiscent, shortly stipitate, linear-cylindric, 1.5-2.5 dm long, ca 1 cm diam; valves black, woody, transversely partitioned, cross-ridged and wrinkled. Seeds many.

Discussion

C. excelsa Hort. p.p. C. carnaval Hort. p.p. C. brasiliensis Hort. Pseudocassia spectabilis (DC.) Britt. & Rose (1930) CN n - 14 (Arora, 1960; Amato-Avanzi, 1956). Although C. spectabilis is termed a “common” cultivated species in Florida by Barrett (1956) and taken up for California by Mathias and McClintock (1963; as C. excelsa), nearly all specimens seen are institutional. It is slightly present in Miami outside of institutional plantings. Cassia spectabilis, C. excelsa Schrad. and C. carnaval Speg., all reported from the United States, form an ambiguous complex ranging from Mexico to Argentina that probably includes also other taxa. I am treating those cultivated in the United States as C. spectabilis. Our material, diverse in flower size, matches most Mexican and north South American C. spectabilis except that the latter is more variable in leaflet shape. A few South American specimens identified as C. spectabilis and C. excelsa have the foliage of these species but velutinous pods. Considerable U.S. material has been identified as C. excelsa Schrad., a Brazilian species whose primary range appears to lie south of C. spectabilis. C. excelsa is excluded on the following tentative basis: 1. Flowers 4-6 cm diam, the larger petals often to 2 cm wide; pedicels 2.5-2.8 cm; leaflets to 18 pairs, 2.1-2.7 r, elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate, apically asymmetric, obtuse to subacute, not acuminate, distinctly and usually obliquely mucronulate (these leaf characters well marked in central Brazil, less so northward); legumes (little known) (1.5-)2-3.5 dm. C. excelsa. 1. Flowers 2.4-4.5(-5) cm diam, the larger petals not 2 cm wide; pedicels (1-) 1.5-2.5 cm; leaflets 8-13(-15) pairs, 2.5-3.8 r, ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, acute or slightly acuminate, minutely mucronulate or not, symmetric at apex or slightly oblique; legumes 1 — 2(—2.5) cm. C. spectabilis. Menninger (1958, 1959) reports C. carnaval from Florida and indicates (1962) that he introduced it thence to California. A specimen of this complex from the Subtropical Horticulture Station, Miami, Florida, is marked C. carnaval and said to be introduced from Argentina by E. A. Menninger. Several sheets from LASCA in California, originally referred to C. carnaval9 but subsequently annotated by Cowan as C. excelsa are, I suspect, derived from Menninger’s Florida introduction (Menninger, 1962). All are C. spectabilis as here defined.

Distribution

S Florida, urban California. Cult, ornamental (June-)Aug.-Oct. Golden shower. Mexico and Central America, Antilles, n South America.

United States of America North America| Mexico North America| Central America| West Indies| Brazil South America| Bolivia South America| Peru South America| Ecuador South America| Colombia South America| Venezuela South America| Guyana South America| Suriname South America| French Guiana South America|