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Senna pendula
Also called Easter Cassia, Cassia, Christmas Senna
In Singapore: Golden Senna, Butterfly Senna, Christmas Senna, Climbing Senna (Grown in Singapore)
Valamuerto (Senna pendula, Easter Cassia) is a fast-growing, spreading or scrambling shrub of the pea family, native to tropical South and Central America and grown as an ornamental for its masses of yellow, buttercup-like flowers. Grows best in warm, frost-free conditions; it is invasive in some regions, so check local rules before planting.
Senna pendula, also known as Easter Cassia, Christmas Senna, winter Senna, climbing Cassia, golden shower, pendant Senna and valamuerto, is a plant of the Fabaceae family with a shrub habit that is native to South America. It used in various parts of the world as an ornamental plant and is an environmental weed in Australia. The flowers are yellow and the name pendula means 'pendulous' or 'drooping'.
Senna pendula was introduced as a garden plant in Australia in 1957, where it was described in a Brisbane nursery catalogue as, "a useful shrub bearing masses of buttercup-shaped flowers in autumn and early winter". Much sought for, gardeners had paid four shillings to purchase this plant during the mid 20th century. The shrub was in the market for many decades, though now it is no longer sold due its invasive nature.
In Florida, Senna pendula is usually cultivated as, and misapplied to, Senna bicapsularis. An investigation of herbarium specimens from the University of Florida, University of South Florida, and Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden had suggested that true Senna bicapsularis is very scarce in cultivation in Florida, whereas Senna pendula is more common and widespread.
Emperor's candlesticks · Alexandrian senna · Silver senna · Matara Tea · Christmasbush · Argentine senna · African senna · American senna · Port Royal senna · False sicklepod · Java-bean · Senna odorata
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Senna pendula 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.
