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Senna alexandrina
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Family:
FABACEAE/LEGUMINOSAE (Subfam.: Caesalpinioideae)
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Citation: Senna alexandrina Mill., Gard. Dict. (ed. 8). 1. 1768; V. Singh, Monogr. Indian Subtribe Cassiinae 104. 2001.
Cassia senna L., Sp. Pl. 377. 1753, excl. var.
Cassia medica Forssk., Fl. Aeg.-Arab. 271. 1775, nom. nud. non Vell. 1825.
Cassia angustifolia Vahl, Symb. Bot. 1: 20. 1790; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 2: 264. 1878.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Chunnamukkiyila, Sunnamukkiyila
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
Alexandrian Senna, Bombay Senna, Indian Senna, Tinnervelly Senna
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Description:
Herbs or shrubs, 0.5-2 m high; branchlets sparsely appressed pubescent. Leaves alternate, rachis (including petiole) 4-9 cm long, pubescent, eglandular; gland-like finger-shaped bodies present between the pairs of leaflets; leaflets 4-8 pairs, 1-4 x 0.3-0.9 cm, elliptic-lanceolate, acute, appressed pubescent; stipules 1.5-2 mm long, linear-lanceolate, acute, appressed pubescent; stipules 1.5-2 mm long, linear-subulate or somewhat ovate. Racemes 10-22 cm long, axillary and terminal, longer than leaves; pedicels up to 10 mm long, thickened upwards, pubescent, deflexed in fruit. bracts ca 1 cm long, boat-shaped, acute, glabrous. Sepals 7-9 mm long, obtuse, glabrous. Petals yellow, 1-1.5 cm long. Fertile stamens 7; of which 2 anthers ca 1 cm long and falcate, one ca 4.5 mm long and straight, four 3-4 mm long and staright; staminodes 3. Ovary strigose; stigma punctiform. Pods 4-5.2 x 2 cm, oblong, straight or upwardly slightly falcate, flat, shallowly elevated over the seeds, transversely septate, sparsely appressed pubescent, reticulately veined, dehiscent; seeds 5-8, each 5-6 x 3 mm, obovate-oblong, narrowed at hilum end, testa reticulately worted or rugose; areole ca 2.5 mm long, more towards hilum end, on both faces.
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Habit:
Shrub
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Flowering & Fruiting:
Throughout the year
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District(s):
Idukki, Malappuram
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Medicinal:
Yes
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Habitat:
Occasionally grown as medicinal plants
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Distribution:
Native of Tropical Africa
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Aquatic:
No
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Epiphyte(s):
No
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Saprophyte:
No
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Stem parasite:
No
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Root parasite:
No
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Flower colour(s):
Yellow
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Weed:
No
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Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
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Exotic:
Yes
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Garden:
No
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Edible:
No
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Vegetable:
No
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Endemic to:
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IUCN status:
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Altitude:
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Localities:
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