Senna spectabilis var. excelsa

  • Title

    Senna spectabilis var. excelsa

  • Author(s)

    Howard S. Irwin, Rupert C. Barneby

  • Scientific Name

    Senna spectabilis var. excelsa (Schrad.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby

  • Description

    202b. Senna spectabilis (DeCandolle) var. excelsa (Schrader) Irwin & Barneby, stat. nov. Cassia excelsa Schrader, Gotting. Gelehrte Anz. 1(72): 717. 1821.—"[. . . der Prinz Maximilian von Neuwied ... in Brasilien gesammelten Gewachse . . .] no. 39."—Holotypus not found; isotypus (fragm + drawing), misit Schrader anno 1825, G-DC! = F Neg. 7010.

    Cassia fastigiata Nees von Esenbeck, Flora (Regensburg) 4: 303. 1821 (21.V).—Described from a plant collected by Martius, no locality recorded.—No typus seen, but equated with C. excelsa by Nees himself, op. cit. p. 329. 1821 (28.V) and by Bentham, 1870, p. 109, 1871, p. 528; the name itself a posterior homonym of C. fastigiata Vahl (1794).

    Cassia excelsa sensu Bentham, 1870, p. 109, t. 33 (optima); 1871, p. 528, exclus. syn. ult.

    Shrubby and weakly arborescent, seldom above 7 m; major lvs 1.7-3.2 dm, the petiole including rachis 11-36 mm, the rachis (10-)12-26 cm; lfts (12-) 13-19(-20) pairs, the largest (2.6-)3-5.5 x (1-) 1.1-2(-2.4) cm, in outline as given in key; outermost sepal 3-4.5 mm, innermost (5.5-)6-9(-10) x 5-8 mm; isomorphic petals 18-36 mm; heteromorphic petal 29-38.5 mm.—Collections: 47.

    Cerrado and caatinga, in s.-e. Bahia entering dense mata de cipo and wet coastal forest, surviving and flourishing in disturbed woodland, cocoa plantations and pasture thickets, sometimes planted as a living fence or as a dooryard ornamental shade-tree, widespread between ±350-900(-1100) m in interior e. tropical Brazil from Ceara to Rio Grande do Norte (there coming out near sea level to stabilized coastal dunes) s. to s.-e. Bahia, n.-centr. Minas Gerais, and the Sao Francisco-Tocantins divide in e.-centr. Goias; planted in Belem, Para (Museu Goeldi) and in coastal Ecuador (Manabi), to be expected elsewhere.—Fl. primarily I-V, occasional through the year.—Canafistola, canafistola do boi, canafista.