Senna pendula
Common Names: Cassia bicapsularis (syn.), Christmas senna, golden
shower, Christmas cassia
Family: Fabaceae/Leguminosae (bean Family)
Shrub Attracts Butterflies, Fast Growing Flowers
Description
Christmas senna is an open, sprawling, evergreen shrub that gets up
to 12 ft (3.7 m) tall with about the same spread. The leaves are
pinnately compound with 3-5 pairs of oval leaflets, increasing in
size toward the tip, and averaging about 1.5 in (3.8 cm) in length.
Christmas senna blooms in late summer and fall (and through the
winter if there's no frost) with bright yellow flowers, about 1/2 in
(1.3 cm) wide in long-stalked racemes (spike-like clusters)
consisting of 3-12 blossoms. The mature pods are brown, cylindrical,
partially segmented and 3-6 in (7.6-15.2 cm) long.
Location
Christmas senna is native to South America. It has escaped
cultivation and become established in disturbed areas in central and
southern Florida and in the Bahamas.
Culture
Easy to grow and fast-growing. Moderately salt tolerant. Likes sandy
soil.
Light: Full sun for best flowering. Will tolerate partial shade.
Moisture: Prefers moist soil, but not waterlogged. Only moderately
drought tolerant.
Hardiness: USDA Zones 9 - 11. Frost kills Christmas senna to the
ground, but it resprouts in spring so it also succeeds in Zone 8 as
a perennial.
Propagation: By seeds.
Usage
Christmas senna is recommended for butterfly gardens in central and
southern Florida, the Gulf Coast of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana
and Texas, and most of California. The flowers are very showy. In
South Florida Christmas senna is planted in roadway median strips
and around parking lots. It does well near the coast. Christmas
senna needs frequent pruning to control sprawl and to develop a
strong branch system that won't break under its own weight. Larger
specimens may require staking to keep them from falling over.
Frequent pinching of young shoots during the growing season will
encourage branching and increase the number of flowers.
Features
The caterpillars of the sulphur butterflies (family Pieridae) feed
on this and other species of Senna and Cassia. Adult sulphurs are
especially fond of Christmas senna. See Floridata's profiles of the
sleepy orange and the cloudless sulfur.
WARNING
Christmas senna is listed by the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council
as a Category I species that is invading and disrupting natural
communities in central and southern Florida. However most observers
note that it invades areas that already are disturbed (canal banks,
cleared lots, etc.) as opposed to undisturbed natural areas. Other
non-governmental organizations still recommend Christmas senna for
butterfly gardens, and its cultivation is not prohibited. |
