Plant Name
Scientific Name: Senna hirsuta var. glaberrima
Synonym: Cassia leptocarpa var. glaberrima
Common Names: Woolly Senna, Slim-pod Senna
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Shrub, Subshrub, Herb/Forb
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Desert (upper elevation), Upland, Riparian. This showy wildflower typically grows in sandy desert washes and along roadsides in the uplands.
Flower Color: Yellow
Flowering Season: Summer, Fall (early). It blooms after the summer monsoon rains have begun.
Height: 3 to 6 feet (91 cm to 1.8 m) tall or more
Description: The flowers have 5 oval petals and 2 enlarged, curved, lower stamens. The 2 lowest petals are cupped. The flowers attract ants and are followed by 6 to 10 inch (15 to 25 cm) long, slender, arching bean pods. The leaves are alternate and pinnately compound with an even number of green, lanceolate leaflets. The plants are hairless or mostly hairless in this variety.
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Rosidae
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae – Pea family
Genus: Senna Mill. – senna
Species: Senna hirsuta (L.) Irwin & Barneby – woolly senna
Variety: Senna hirsuta (L.) Irwin & Barneby var. glaberrima (M.E. Jones) Irwin & Barneby – woolly senna
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