GENUS i. 



SENNA FAMILY. 



335 



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

 ican Judas-tree. Fig. 2436. 



Cercis canadensis L. Sp. PI. 374. 1753. 



A tree, with greatest height of about 50 and 

 trunk diameter of i, 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, ^"-12" 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 Ibs. 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 mainly (in all our species) yellow flowers. Calyx-teeth nearly equal, mostly 

 obtuse, generally longer than the tube. Corolla nearly regular; petals 5, spreading, nearly 

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

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

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

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

 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. Medsgeri. 

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



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



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

 Cassia obtusifolia L. Sp. PI. 377. 1753. 



Annual, glabrous, iJ-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 i*" wide. 



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. Coffee-weed. July-Oct. 



