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Taxon:  Senna alata (L.) Roxb.



Summary
Genus:
Senna
Family:
Fabaceae (alt. Leguminosae)
Subfamily:
Caesalpinioideae
Tribe:
Cassieae
Subtribe:
Cassiinae
Nomen number:
100063
Place of publication:
Fl. ind. ed. 1832, 2:349. 1832
Verified:
02/29/1988 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
2 (2  active, 0  available) in Australian Pastures Genebank.  (Map it)
Other conspecific taxa
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
Basionym
Cassia alata L.

No images


Reference(s)
  1. Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98. 2012
  2. Allen, O. N. & E. K. Allen. 1936. Plants in the sub-family Caesalpinioideae observed to be lacking nodules. Soil Sci. 42:87-91.
  3. Dassanayake, M. D. & F. R. Fosberg, eds. A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon. 1980-
  4. Du Puy, D. J. et al. The Leguminosae of Madagascar. 2002
  5. Duke, J. A. et al. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs. 2002
  6. Duke, J. A. Handbook of legumes of world economic importance. 1981
  7. George, A. S., ed. Flora of Australia. 1980-
  8. Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm.
  9. Holm, L. et al. A geographical atlas of world weeds. 1979
  10. Howard, R. Flora of the lesser Antilles. 1974-1989
  11. Huxley, A., ed. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening. 1992
  12. Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry. Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER): plant threats to Pacific ecosystems (on-line resource).
  13. Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS). Australian plant common name database (on-line resource).
  14. Irwin, H. S. & R. C. Barneby. 1982. The American Cassiinae: a synoptical revision of Leguminosae tribe Cassieae subtribe Cassiinae in the New World. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 35:460.
  15. Isely, D. Native and naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the United States (exclusive of Alaska and Hawaii). 1998
  16. Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist. 2003
  17. Lewis, G. P. & P. E. Owen. Legumes of the Ilha de Maraca. 1989
  18. Lewis, G. P. Legumes of Bahia. 1987
  19. Lock, J. M. & C. S. Ford. Legumes of Malesia: a checklist. 2004
  20. Lock, J. M. & J. Heald. Legumes of Indochina: a checklist. 1994
  21. Lock, J. M. 1988. Cassia sens. lat. (Leguminosae - Caesalpinioideae) in Africa. Kew Bull. 43:338.
  22. Lock, J. M. Legumes of Africa: a checklist. 1989
  23. Mabberley, D. J. The plant-book: a portable dictionary of the vascular plants, ed. 2. 1997
  24. McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000
  25. McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000
  26. McVaugh, R. Flora Novo-Galiciana. 1983-
  27. Padua, L. S. de et al., eds. 1999. Medicinal and poisonous plants 1. Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA). 1989- 12(1):445.
  28. Parsons, W. T. & E. G. Cuthbertson. Noxious weeds of Australia. 1992
  29. Rehm, S. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. 1994
  30. Smith, A. C. Flora vitiensis nova. 1979-1991
  31. Smitinand, T. & K. Larsen, eds. Flora of Thailand. 1970-
  32. Staples, G. W. & D. R. Herbst. 1996. Nomenclatural changes affecting cultivated plants. I. Baileya 23:174.
  33. Steyermark, J. A. et al., eds. Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana. 1995-
  34. Weber, E. Invasive plant species of the world: a reference guide to environmental weeds. 2003
  35. Wiersema, J. H. & B. León. World economic plants: a standard reference (on-line edition) [medicinal plants only].
  36. Wunderlin, R. & B. Hansen. Atlas of Florida vascular plants (on-line resource).
  37. Wunderlin, R. P. Guide to the vascular plants of Florida. 1998
  38. Yen, Kun-Ying. Illustrated Chinese materia medica: crude drugs. 1980
  39. Zhu, X. Y. et al. Legumes of China: a checklist. 2007
Common names
English
candlebush –
candlestick senna –
Christmas-candle –
empress-candleplant –
ringworm senna –
ringwormbush –
ringwormshrub –
seven-golden-candles –
seven-golden-candlesticks –
French
bois dartre –
dartres –
Portuguese (Brazil)
café-beirão –
fedegoso-gigante –
fedegoso-grande –
mangerioba-do-Pará –
mangerioba-grande –
mata-pasto –
Spanish
bajagua –
mocoté –
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNote
1NativeSouthern AmericaBrazilBrazil  
1NativeSouthern AmericaNorthern South AmericaFrench Guiana  
1NativeSouthern AmericaNorthern South AmericaGuyana  
1NativeSouthern AmericaNorthern South AmericaSuriname  
1NativeSouthern AmericaNorthern South AmericaVenezuela  
1NativeSouthern AmericaWestern South AmericaColombia  
2Cultivated     
4NaturalizedAfricaEast Tropical AfricaKenya  
4NaturalizedAfricaEast Tropical AfricaTanzania  
4NaturalizedAfricaEast Tropical AfricaUganda  
4NaturalizedAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaChad  
4NaturalizedAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaSudan  
4NaturalizedAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaMalawi  
4NaturalizedAfricaWest Tropical AfricaCote D'Ivoire  
4NaturalizedAfricaWest Tropical AfricaGhana  
4NaturalizedAfricaWest Tropical AfricaGuinea  
4NaturalizedAfricaWest Tropical AfricaLiberia  
4NaturalizedAfricaWest Tropical AfricaMali  
4NaturalizedAfricaWest Tropical AfricaNigeria  
4NaturalizedAfricaWest Tropical AfricaSierra Leone  
4NaturalizedAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaBurundi  
4NaturalizedAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaCameroon  
4NaturalizedAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaGabon  
4NaturalizedAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaZaire  
4NaturalizedAfricaWestern Indian OceanComoros  
4NaturalizedAfricaWestern Indian OceanMadagascar  
4NaturalizedAfricaWestern Indian OceanMayotte  
4NaturalizedAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentBangladesh  
4NaturalizedAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentBhutan  
4NaturalizedAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndia  
4NaturalizedAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentNepal  
4NaturalizedAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentPakistan  
4NaturalizedAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentSri Lanka  
4NaturalizedAsia-TropicalIndo-ChinaCambodia  
4NaturalizedAsia-TropicalIndo-ChinaLaos  
4NaturalizedAsia-TropicalIndo-ChinaMyanmar  
4NaturalizedAsia-TropicalIndo-ChinaThailand  
4NaturalizedAsia-TropicalIndo-ChinaVietnam  
4NaturalizedAsia-TropicalMalesiaBrunei  
4NaturalizedAsia-TropicalMalesiaIndonesia  
4NaturalizedAsia-TropicalMalesiaMalaysia  
4NaturalizedAsia-TropicalMalesiaPapua New Guinea  
4NaturalizedAsia-TropicalMalesiaPhilippines  
4NaturalizedAsia-TropicalNorth Indian OceanIndiaAndaman and Nicobar 
4NaturalizedAustralasiaAustraliaAustralia  
4NaturalizedNorthern America Mexico  
4NaturalizedNorthern AmericaSoutheastern U.S.A.United StatesFlorida 
4NaturalizedPacificNorth-Central PacificUnited StatesHawaii 
4NaturalizedPacificNorthwestern PacificGuam  
4NaturalizedPacificNorthwestern PacificMicronesia  
4NaturalizedPacificNorthwestern PacificPalau  
4NaturalizedPacificSouth-Central PacificCook Islands  
4NaturalizedPacificSouth-Central PacificFrench Polynesia  
4NaturalizedPacificSouthwestern PacificFiji  
4NaturalizedPacificSouthwestern PacificSamoa  
4NaturalizedPacificSouthwestern PacificTonga  
4NaturalizedSouthern AmericaCaribbeanWest Indies  
Native
Southern America
  • BRAZIL: Brazil
  • NORTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela
  • WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA: Colombia
Cultivated ()
Naturalized
Africa
  • EAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
  • NORTHEAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Sudan, Chad
  • SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA: Malawi
  • WEST TROPICAL AFRICA: Cote D'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone
  • WEST-CENTRAL TROPICAL AFRICA: Burundi, Cameroon, Gabon, Zaire
  • WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN: Comoros, Madagascar, Mayotte
Asia-Tropical
  • INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan
  • INDO-CHINA: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam
  • MALESIA: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea
  • NORTH INDIAN OCEAN: India [Andaman and Nicobar]
Australasia
  • AUSTRALIA: Australia
Northern America
  • REGION: Mexico
  • SOUTHEASTERN U.S.A.: United States [Florida]
Pacific
  • NORTH-CENTRAL PACIFIC: United States [Hawaii]
  • NORTHWESTERN PACIFIC: Micronesia, Guam, Palau
  • SOUTH-CENTRAL PACIFIC: Cook Islands, French Polynesia
  • SOUTHWESTERN PACIFIC: Fiji, Tonga, Samoa
Southern America
  • CARIBBEAN: West Indies
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Environmentalerosion control Smith, A. C. Flora vitiensis nova. 1979-1991
Environmentalornamental Duke, J. A. Handbook of legumes of world economic importance. 1981
Medicinesfolklore McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000
Weed  Weber, E. Invasive plant species of the world: a reference guide to environmental weeds. 2003
Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2025. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://apg.pir.sa.gov.au/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=100063. Accessed 19 July 2025.


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