Senna pendula var. glabrata (Vogel) H.S.Irwin & Barneby

Fabaceae

Irwin, H.S. & Barneby, R.C. (1982) Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 35 : 382.

Easter Cassia; Valamuerto; Cassia, EAster

Vine stem diameters to 3 cm recorded. Blaze odour unpleasant, perhaps resembling that of rotten tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum).

Compound leaves usually with 6-8 leaflets. Leaflet blades about 1.5-4 x 1.5-2.5 cm, leaflet stalks about 2 mm long, swollen and transversely wrinkled. Lateral veins forming loops well inside the blade margin. Stipules caducous.

Flowers about 20 mm diam. at anthesis. Calyx lobes about 9-10 mm long. Petals about 12-15 mm long. Stamens seven, staminodes three. Stamens consist of the following: 2 long anthers on long filaments, one long anther on a short filament and four shorter anthers on short filaments.

Pods cylindrical, about 8.5-15 x 1.3 cm, seeds numerous, arranged transversely like biscuits in a packet. Seeds flattened, orbicular, about 4-6 mm diam. Cotyledons +/- orbicular, about 4-5 mm diam., notched at the base at the point of attachment. Radicle about 0.7-1 mm long.

Cotyledons +/- orbicular, about 11-20 x 8.5-20 mm, +/- 3-veined with the main lateral veins joining bifurcating branches from the midrib near the apex. Petioles about 1.5 mm long. First leaves pinnate with 4 leaflets, leaflet blades elliptic to obovate, very pale on the underside. A raised gland normally visible on the upper surface of the compound leaf rhachis between the lowermost pair of leaflets. Stipules about 1-2 mm long. At the tenth leaf stage: leaflets 4 or 6 per compound leaf, leaflet blades elliptic to obovate, apex obtuse and apiculate, base obtuse and oblique. Leaflet blades soft, much paler on the underside. A finger-like or club-shaped gland usually present on the upper surface of the compound leaf rhachis just above the point of attachment of the basal pair of leaflets. Stipules filiform, about 1.5 mm long. Roots black. Seed germination time 10 to 18 days.

An introduced species originally from Brazil. naturalised in NEQ, CEQ and also occurs from south eastern Queensland, to coastal central New South Wales. Altitudinal range in NEQ not known but a couple of specimens have been collected at altitudes of 700-800 m. Grows in disturbed rain forest and along road clearings in rain forest in the Atherton area.

Cassia indecora var. glabrata Vogel, Gen. Cass. Syn. : 19(1837), Type: In Brasilia: Sellow legit pr. Ypanema (Sao Paulo); neo: K. Fide H. S. Irwin & R. C. Barneby !1982) Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 35: 382. Cassia coluteoides Collad., Histoire Naturelle et Medicale des Casses : 102(1816), Type: Cultivated at Montpellier from stock from Lisbon; lecto: MPU. Fide H. S. Irwin & R. C. Barneby (1982) Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 35:382.