Senna versicolor var. versicolor

  • Title

    Senna versicolor var. versicolor

  • Author(s)

    Howard S. Irwin, Rupert C. Barneby

  • Scientific Name

    Senna versicolor (Vogel) H.S.Irwin & Barneby var. versicolor

  • Description

    95a. Senna versicolor (Vogel) Irwin & Barneby var. versicolor. Cassia versicolor Meyen ex Vogel, 1837, l.c., sens. str.—"In Peruvia pr. lacum Titicaca. (v.s.s.fr. comm, a cl. Meyen.)."—Holotypus, collected (Meyen, 1834, l.c.) on the w. shore of the lake between Chucuito and Puno, †B = F Neg. 1766! no isotypus found.—Cassia versicolor Meyen, Obs. Bot. in itinere circum Terram (Nov. Acta Acad. Caes. Leop.-Carol. Nat. Curios. 19, suppl. 1) 39. 1843.—"In altis Peruviae circa Laguna de Titicaca."

    Cassia latopetiolata Dombey ex Vogel, Syn. Gen. Cass. 29. 1837.—"In Peruvia aut Chile in montibus: Dombey leg."—Holotypus, †B (hb. Kunth.) = F Neg. 1698; isotypi, NY, P!

    Cassia pazensis Rusby, Bull. N.Y. Bot. Gard. 8(28): 94. 1912.—". . . La Paz, [Bolivia,] 11,500 ft., Aug. 21, 1901 ([R. S. Williams] No. 2344.)"—Holotypus, NY!

    Cassia versicolor sensu Bentham, 1871, p. 540, majori ex parte, speciminibus nonnullis exceptis.

    Cassia latopetiolata sensu Bentham, 1871, p. 539; Macbride, 1943, p. 171.

    Cassia hookerana sensu Macbride, 1943, p. 168, majori ex parte, quoad syn. & specimina cit., non Gillies ex Hooker.Characters as given in description and key.—Collections: 42.

    Dry stony hillsides, gravelly washes and rocky ravines in the puna formation, sometimes colonial along road banks and stone walls, descending rarely into the edge of the monte, (2100-)2800-4150 m, common and locally abundant along the crest and plateau of the Peruvian Andes from Ancash to Lago Titicaca in Puno, thence extending into n. La Paz, Bolivia; apparently greatly isolated in similar xeromorphic associations in the Andes of s.-centr. Ecuador (Canar, Pichincha, possibly elsewhere).—Fl. almost throughout the year.—Tumbo.

    In describing Cassia pazensis, Rusby suggested that it was related to C. laevigata (=our Senna floribunda), and associated with it Bang 1985, which is S. mandoni, and Mandon 751 which, as to fruit, but not flower, is S. aymara. The holotypus of C. pazensis is unusual in the species for the low number of leaflets, mostly 6-7 pairs; but these are mostly leaves of lateral branchlets, the primary cauline ones having already fallen.