Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

WILD SENNA

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Senna marilandica (L. ) Link

[=Cassia marilandica L.]

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas, Photo by Eva Horne

Perennial

Height: 3-6 feet

Family: Fabaceae - Bean Family

Flowering Period: July, August, September

Also Called:

Maryland senna.

Stems:

Erect, little branched, glabrous or very sparsely pubescent, sometimes waxy.

Leaves:

Alternate, even-pinnately compound, club-shaped gland near base of stalk; leaflets 5-10 pairs, oblong to elliptic, 1.2 to 2.4 inches long, .4 to 1 inch wide, glabrous, waxy beneath; base rounded; tip with short, abrupt projection; stipules linear-lanceolate, falling early.

Inflorescences:

Racemes, short, several-flowered, in upper leaf axils or clustered terminally.

Flowers:

Sepals 5, united near base, ovate, 1/6 to 1/4 inch long, pale yellow, glabrous; tips blunt; petals 5, spreading, yellow, 1 petal slightly larger; stamens 10, dark reddish, lowest 3 with large anthers and filaments, 3 uppermost erect and much reduced; pistil slender; style curving up; ovary pubescent.

Fruits:

Pods, flat, linear, often curved downward, 3 to 4 inches long, 1/3 to 1/2 inch wide, black at maturity, divided by partitions between seeds; seeds ovate, 1/5 inch long, black.

Habitat:

Prairie ravines, open woods, thickets, disturbed areas, and bases of slopes and bluffs; dry, gravelly soils.

Distribution:

East 2/3 of Kansas.

Uses:

Native Americans used a poultice of root to treat sores and took a tea made from the roots for fevers and heart disorders.

Wild senna