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Senna italica
Also called Spanish Senna, Dog Senna, Eland's Pea, Eland's Senna / Eland's Pea, Italian Senna, Senegal Senna
Port Royal senna (Senna italica) is a small, short-lived woody shrub or subshrub in the pea family, grown for its leaves and used in traditional medicine and hair treatments. It thrives in warm, dry, sunny conditions with little water.
Senna italica, the Port Royal senna, Italian senna, or Senegal senna is a legume tree in the genus Senna. It is recognized by many other common names based on the regions it grows in. In India, it is used to produce a powder for treating hair-related diseases which is known as “neutral henna”. Whereas, in some parts of the world, this species (along with Cassia senna) is cultivated for the leaves which yield the drug senna, known commonly as Senna glycoside, which in turn is the base for a laxative. Senegal senna is easily distinguishable through its many distinctive features. There are 3 subspecies of this plant based on the size of the inflorescence and the length of the petiole. The subspecies are italica, micrantha, and arachoides. In many regions, this plant is cultivated commercially and medicinally.
Senegal senna is native to African countries from Cape Verde east to Somalia and south to South Africa. It is also native to Asia, from the Middle East to Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and India to Sri Lanka. Later, this plant has been introduced to Caribbean and Venezuela. This plant is also introduced to the United States and is currently located at New York Botanical Garden.
The leaves, pods and seeds of Senna italica are mostly used in traditional medicine. In Malawi, root infusion is used to treat diarrhea in infants.
Emperor's candlesticks · Alexandrian senna · Silver senna · Matara Tea · Christmasbush · Argentine senna · African senna · American senna · False sicklepod · Java-bean · Senna odorata · Valamuerto
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Senna italica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
