Rainforest senna
In the North Coast Regional Botanic Garden
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
Genus: Senna
Species:
S. acclinis
Binomial name
Senna acclinis
Synonyms[1]

Cassia acclinis F.Muell.

Habit

Senna acclinis, commonly known as rainforest cassia[2] or brush senna,[3] is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to near-coastal areas of eastern Australia. It is a shrub with pinnate leaves and bright golden yellow flowers in groups of two to five and long, narrow seed pods. It is similar to other species of Senna that are environmental weeds.

Description

Senna acclinis is a shrub that typically grows to a height of 3 m (9.8 ft). Its leaves are pinnate, up to 150 mm (5.9 in) long on a petiole 20–40 mm (0.79–1.57 in) long, with five to seven pairs of broadly elliptic leaflets up to 50 mm (2.0 in) long and 15 mm (0.59 in) wide. There is a gland between the lower one to four pairs of leaflets. From two to five bright golden yellow flowers are arranged on a peduncle 20–40 mm (0.79–1.57 in) long, each flower with ten fertile stamens, the anthers usually of unequal lengths and 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) long. Flowering occurs in spring and summer the fruit is a more or less flat pod 120–150 mm (4.7–5.9 in) long and 6–8 mm (0.24–0.31 in) wide that ripens in summer and autumn. This species can be mistaken for other introduced Senna species that are environmental weeds.[4][2][5]

Taxonomy

Rainforest senna was first formally described in 1863 by Ferdinand von Mueller who gave it the name Cassia acclinis in Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae.[6][7] In 1998, Barbara Rae Randell and Bryan Barlow changed the name to Senna acclinis in Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Garden.[8][9]

Distribution and habitat

Senna acclinis is found in near-coastal areas of New South Wales and Queensland, growing in or on the edges of subtropical and dry rainforests.[10] [4] The plant is distributed in several subregions, including Barrington, Karuah Manning, Mummel Escarpment, Wyong, and Yengro.[11]

Ecology

Senna acclinis is known to be a pollination plant for several insect species, including native bees[12] and the jack-jumper ant Myrmecia nigrocincta, which has been recorded several times visiting the flowers of S. acclinis.[13] Flowers sprout during springs and summer.[2]

Conservation status

The species has been classed as "endangered" under the New South Wales Government Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016.[14][15] The main threats to S. acclinis are clearance of habitat for development, introduced and invasive species of weeds, timber harvesting activities, and accidental removal during weed-control programs.[4][16]

References

  1. 1 2 "Senna acclinis". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 "Senna acclinis (F.Muell.) Randell". plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/. PlanetNET. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  3. ↑ "Senna Acclins". Port Macquarie Landcare Group Inc. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 "Rainforest Cassia - profile". www.environment.nsw.gov.au/. NSW Government - Environment & Heritage. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  5. ↑ Randell, Barbara R.; Barlow, Bryan A. "Senna acclinis (F.Muell.) Randell". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  6. ↑ "Cassia acclinis". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  7. ↑ von Mueller, Ferdinand (1863). Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae. Melbourne: Victorian Government Printer. p. 13. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  8. ↑ "Senna acclinis". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  9. ↑ Randell, Barbara Rae (1989). "Revision of the Cassiinae in Australia. @. Senna Miller Sect. Psilorhegma (J,Vogel) Irwin and Barneby" (PDF). Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. 12 (2): 200–202. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  10. ↑ Harden, G.J. (ed.) (2002) Flora of New South Wales. Volume 2, Revised Edition. UNSW, Sydney.
  11. ↑ "Rainforest Cassia - Hunter-Central Rivers: Distribution and vegetation associations". www.environment.nsw.gov.au/. NSW Government - Environment & Heritage. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  12. ↑ Williams, Geoff. "Bee pollination in the threatened Australian shrub Senna acclinis (Caesalpinioideae)". The Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  13. ↑ Williams, Geoff; Adam, Paul (2010). The flowering of Australia's rainforests : a plant and pollination miscellany. Collingwood, Vic.: CSIRO Publishing. p. 139. ISBN 978-0643097612. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  14. ↑ Briggs, J. & Leigh, J. (1996) Rare or Threatened Australian Plants. CSIRO, Melbourne.
  15. ↑ "Senna acclinis - endangered species listing". NSW Government - Environment & Heritage. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  16. ↑ NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (2002) Threatened Species of the Upper North Coast of NSW: Flora. (NSW NPWS, Coffs Harbour)
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