Senna didymobotrya

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Senna didymobotrya
Starr 030201-0001 Senna didymobotrya.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
Genus: Senna
Species:
S. didymobotrya
Binomial name
Senna didymobotrya
(Fresen.) Irwin & Barneby
Synonyms

Cassia didymobotrya

Senna didymobotrya is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names African senna, [1] popcorn senna, candelabra tree, and peanut butter cassia. It is native to Africa, where it can be found across the continent in several types of habitats.

Contents

It has been introduced to many other parts of the world for use as an ornamental plant, a cover crop, and a leguminous green manure. [2] In some places it is now naturalized in the wild, for example, in parts of Indonesia, Australia, Mexico, and the United States in California, Florida, and Hawaii.

Description

African senna is a hairy, aromatic shrub usually growing up to about five meters tall but known to reach nine meters in optimal growing conditions. The leaves of the plant are up to half a meter long and are made up of many pairs of elongated oval leaflets each up to 6.5 centimeters long.

The African senna plant has a strong, distinct scent that has been variously described as being reminiscent of mice, wet dog, peanut butter, and burnt popcorn. [3]

The plant flowers plentifully in racemes of bright yellow flowers, with some flowers also occurring in leaf axils. The flower raceme has open flowers on the lower part with unopened buds at the tip covered in stark brownish green or black bracts. The flower has five concave petals each 1.5 to nearly 3 centimeters long. The flower has ten stamens, usually seven fertile ones and three sterile staminodes. Some of the stamens have large anthers measuring a centimeter long.

The fruits of the African senna plant are flat brown legume pods up to 12 centimeters long, each containing as many as 16 bean-like seeds that are themselves up to a centimeter long each.

The plant is poisonous. [4]

Taxonomy and phylogenetics

The African senna plant is one of 249 species in the genus Senna of the legume family. [5] According to Open Tree of Life, it's closest relative is Senna italica which is also native to Africa as well as parts of India. [6] [7]

S. nicaraguensis

S. alata

S. venusta

Uses

In Kenya, some cultures, particularly Kalenjins, use the plant to prepare a special type of sour milk (mursik) which is used mainly during festivities. A sizeable tree is cut and its branches pruned. The bark is mostly removed, then dried. Once the bark is dry, and the specially made calabash gourd, or Sotet, has been cleaned and dried, the senna bark is put in a fire, and removed when charred. The process emits fragrant smoke. The charred bark is used to coat the inside of the gourd, which is subsequently used for the storage of fermented or fresh milk. [8]

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<i>Senna armata</i> Species of legume

Senna armata is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names spiny senna and desert senna. It is native to the desert regions around the intersection of Nevada, Arizona, eastern California and northern Baja California, where it grows in sandy and rocky habitat, such as arroyos. It is a shrub growing up to a meter tall, its grooved, branching stems often narrowing to thorns at their tips. The spiny branches are coated in tubular hairs which help protect it from hot desert air. The spine-tipped leaves are each made up of two to four pairs of small leaflets. The leaves are ephemeral, dropping soon after emerging, leaving the shrub naked most of the time. Flowers occur singly or in small clusters in leaf axils. They are fragrant and showy, with five petals in shades of yellow to salmon pink, each measuring roughly a centimeter long. The fruit is a legume pod up to 4 centimeters long.

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<i>Senna italica</i> Species of legume

Senna italica, the Port Royal senna, Italian senna, or Senegal senna is a legume tree in the genus Senna. It is recognized by many other common names based on the regions it grows in. In India, it is used to produce a powder for treating hair-related diseases which is known as “neutral henna”. Whereas, in some parts of the world, this species is cultivated for the leaves which yield the drug senna, known commonly as Senna glycoside, which in turn is the base for a laxative. Senegal senna is easily distinguishable through its many distinctive features. There are 3 subspecies of this plant based on the size of the inflorescence and the length of the petiole. The subspecies are italica, micrantha, and arachoides. In many regions, this plant is cultivated commercially and medicinally.

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References

  1. USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Senna didymobotrya". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  2. World Agroforestry Centre
  3. Schmelzer, G. H. and A. Gurib-Fakim. (2008). Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 1: Medicinal Plants. page 507.
  4. GRIN-link and Blundell, M. 1987. Wild Flowers of East Africa. page 92.
  5. "Catalogue of Life - Senna" . Retrieved 2022-07-08.
  6. "Open Tree of Life".
  7. "CABI - Senna italica distribution maps" . Retrieved 2022-07-08.
  8. "Kalenjin taught how to make hygienic mursik". The Star. Retrieved 2023-05-22.