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Reticulate Senna

Senna reticulata

Reticulate Senna
Photo: Dick Culbert from Gibsons, B.C., Canada, CC BY 2.0

Senna reticulata is a fast-growing pioneer tree from wet tropical South America, often a weed on fertile floodplains. It grows quickly in full sun and is not a common houseplant.

Family
Fabaceae (Pea & bean family)
Grows as
Tree
Light
Full sun
Water
Keep soil moist while young; it is adapted to wet floodplain conditions.
Soil
Fertile, moist, well-drained soil
Temperature
20–35 °C; protect below 10 °C
Native range
S. Mexico to S. Trop. America, Trinidad
Climate
wet tropical

About

Senna reticulata, the mangerioba grande or maria mole in Portuguese, is a pioneer tree species found on highly fertile floodplains in South America. It has some medicinal uses, but is regarded by farmers as a noxious weed, named matapasto (meadow killer) due to its ability to grow fast and outshade neighbouring plants.

Uses

It is used in the local folk medicine for liver problems and rheumatism. 1,3,8-Trihydroxyanthraquinone is an organic compound found in alcoholic extracts of the wood of the plant. The extract also contains, among other products chrysophanol (1,8-dihydroxy-3-methylanthraquinone), physcion (1,8-dihydroxy-3-methyl-6-methoxyanthraquinone), aloe-emodin (3-carbinol-1,8-dihydroxyanthraquinone), lunatin (3-methoxy-1,6,8-trihydroxyanthraquinone), emodin (6-methyl-1,3,8-trihydroxyanthraquinone), and chrysophanol-10,10'-bianthrone. The xanthonoid cassiaxanthone can be found in S. reticulata as well as the anthraquinone rhein.

Other Senna plants

Rainforest Cassia · Sprawling Cassia · Emperor's candlesticks · Alexandrian senna · Desertsenna · Silver senna · Flor de San Jose · Matara Tea · Pepper Leaf Senna · Senna barronfieldii · Twinleaf senna · Christmasbush

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Senna reticulata 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.

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