Broad-leaf Desert Senna
Leaf
Ellura
Broad-leaf Desert Senna
Flower & New Pod
 
                      
Broad-leaf Desert Senna (Senna artemisioides ssp coriacea)Class: Plants (Plantae) - Land Plants (Charophyta) - Land Plants (Equisetopsida)
Order: Legumes (Fabales)
Family: Legume (Fabaceae or Leguminosae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Broad-leaf Desert Senna (Senna artemisioides ssp coriacea)
This Photo:     Leaf

Thank you Jean-Philippe Basuyaux, Tony and Jenny Dominelli & Arthur Chapman for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA), the Flinders Ranges, the Riverland and elsewhere
All our Senna's start growing the pods from the centre of the flower as soon as the flower opens.
It's a thin green bent stalk in the middle. As the flower is pollinated and so dies and falls off around the stem, the pod continues to grow.
Thanks to Arthur for highlighting the fact that S. a. ssp zygophylla only has 2 pairs of leaflets. As such we thought the narrow leaflets here were S. a. ssp zygophylla.
Arthur also explained that S. a. ssp coriacea is a natural hybrid, and so very variable.
It is possible, in the leaf comparision shot, that the left most leaf is S. a. ssp zygophylla. But until we find the bush again, and re-do the shots with sizes, etc, we can't be sure.

Copyright © 2014-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 08-Jan-2014
This species is classed as LC (Least Concern) in the Murray Mallee, SA, by DENR (Regional Species Status Assessments, July 2010)