Senna wislizeni

Senna wislizeni.jpeg

Senna wislizeni
J. Charboneau

Senna wislizeni flower

Botanical Name

Senna wislizeni (A. Gray) Irwin & Barneby

Common Name(s)

  • shrubby senna

Synonyms

Legume Clades

Caesalpinioideae , Cassieae , Senna

Native Geographic Range

  • Southwestern North America

IUCN Status

Growth Form

shrub

Cultivation Status in AZ

Native

Description

Cold- and drought-deciduous shrubs to 2.5 ft (2 m) or sometimes to 16 ft (5 m) high with slightly rough, brown bark. Leaves are once-pinnate with 2--6 pairs of small, dull green leaflets. Showy masses of golden-yellow flowers are produced in late summer.

Habitat

Native to small areas of southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, and in northern Mexico. Occurring in the Chihuahuan Desert, and rarely in the Sonoran Desert and in semidesert grasslands, on rocky slopes usually of limestone.

Uses

None reported.

Horticulture

Shrubby senna is occasionally planted in Arizona for its showy flowers. Established plants are drought tolerant but require occasional irrigation in dry weather to maintain leaves. Leaves are killed with freezing temperatures and the plants leaf out later in the spring than many other landscape plants. This species is hardy to at least 0° F (-18° C). Litter is minimal.