Genus i. 



SENNA FAMILY. 



I. Cercis canadensis L. Red-bud. Amer- 

 ican Judas-tree. Fig. 2430. 



Cercis canadensis L. Sp. PI. 374. l/Si- 



A tree, with greatest height of about 50 and 

 trunk diameter pf 1, or often shrubby. Stipules 

 membranous, small, caducous ; leaves simple, 

 petioled, cordate-orbicular, blunt-pointed, rather 

 thick, glabrous, or pubescent along the veins 

 beneath, 2'-6' broad; flowers several together in 

 sessile umbellate clusters, appearing before the 

 leaves; pedicels slender, 4"-l2" long; corolla 

 pink-purple, about 4" long; pod short-stalked in 

 the calyx, linear-oblong, acute at each end, gla- 

 brous, 2'-3' long, 6" wide, several-seeded. 



In rich soil, southern Ontario and New York to 

 Iowa, Nebraska, Arkansas, Florida and Texas. 

 Wood hard, weak, dark reddish-brown ; weight per 

 cubic foot 40 lbs. Red Judas-tree. Salad-tree. April. 



2. CASSIA [Tourn.] L. Sp. PI 376. 1753. 



Herbs, shrubs, or in tropical regions trees, with evenly pinnate leaves, not sensitive to 

 the touch, and mr.mly (in all our species) yellow flowers. Calyx-teeth nearly equal, mostly 

 obtuse, generally longer than the tube. Corolla nearly regular; petals S, spreading, nearly 

 equal, imbricated, clawed. Stamens usually 10, sometimes 5, often unequal and some of tliem 

 imperfect; anthers all alike, or those of the lower stamens larger, opening by 2 pores at the 

 summit. Ovary sessile or stalked; ovules m. Pod flat or terete, often curved, septate or 

 continuous between the seeds, the valves not elastically dehiscent. Seeds numerous, [.\ncient 

 name.] 



About 200 species, of wide distribution in warm and temperate regions, very abundant in trop- 

 ical America. Besides the following, about 15 others occur in the southern 'and southwestern States. 

 Type species : Cassia fistula L. 



Leaflets 6 or 4, broadly obovate. i. C. Tora. 



Leaflets 8-20, oblong or ovate-lanceolate. 

 Perennial ; leaflets oblong, obtuse. 



Segments of the pod at least as long as broad ; petiolar gland club-shaped. 2. C. marilandica. 

 Segments of the pod much shorter than broad ; petiolar gland cylindric to conic. 



3. C. Medsgcri. 

 Annual; leaflets ovate-lanceolate, acute or acuminate. 4- C.occidentalis. 



I. Cassia Tora L. Low Senna. Fig. 2437. 



Cassia Tora L. Sp. PI. 376. 1753. 



Cassia oblusifolia L. Sp. PI. 377- I753. 



Annual, glabrous, ii-2 high, branched or simple. 

 Stipules linear-subulate, at length deciduous; leaves 

 petioled, the gland borne between or above the 

 lowest pair of leaflets; leaflets 2-4 pairs, thin, obo- 

 vate, obtuse and mucronulate at the apex, narrowed 

 or rounded at the base, I'-ii' long, often i' wide; 

 flowers 6"-i2" broad, few, in short axillary racemes; 

 calyx-lobes oblong, obtuse; stamens 10, the anthers 

 of the upper 3 imperfect ; pod linear, very slender, 

 strongly curved, 4'-6' long, about i4" wdde. 



Along rivers, southern Pennsylvania to Indiana and 

 Missouri, south to Florida and Mexico, and throughout 

 tropical America and the warmer parts of the Old 

 World. Sickle-senna. Coff'ee-weed. July-Oct. 



