Senna obtusifolia (L.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby

  • Authority

    Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

  • Family

    Caesalpiniaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Senna obtusifolia (L.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby

  • Description

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    Species Description - Erect subshrub to 50 cm tall. Leaves 4-8 cm long; leaflets 3 pairs, 3-5 cm long, oblanceolate, chartaceous, glabrous or pubescent, the apex obtuse, mucronulate, the base asymmetric, cuneaterounded, the margins entire, ciliate; rachis with an elongate fusiform gland between the lowest pair of leaflets; stipules linear, lanceolate, 6-8 mm long, late deciduous. Flowers solitary or paired in axillary racemes; pedicels 1-2 cm long, pubescent; bracts lanceolate, deciduous. Calyx green, of 5 expanded, oblanceolate, unequal sepals, 5-9 mm long; petals yellow, 0.8-1.1 cm long, obovate, rounded at apex, the lower central petal larger, with notched apex; stamens 10, dimorphic, 7 of them fertile, the filaments shorter than the petals; ovary pubescent, oblong, the style slightly recurved, the stigma cup-shaped. Legume 7.5-15 x 0.5-0.6 cm, linear, turgid, nearly cylindrical, straight, but flattened and strongly curved when young, semiwoody, dehiscent. Seeds 25-30, 3.8-4.5 mm long, rhombic, light brown, smooth.

  • Discussion

    Emelista tor a sensu Britton & P. Wilson, Bot. Porto Rico 5: 371. 1924, non L., 1753.

  • Distribution

    Common roadside weed. Coral Bay Quarter along Center Line Road (A3995). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Tortola; weedy throughout the tropics.

    Tortola Virgin Islands South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America|