PLANTS FURNISHING MEDICINAL LEAVES AND HERBS. 13 
AMERICAN SENNA. 
Cassia marilandica I,. 
Synonym.—Senna marilandica Link. 
Other common names.—Wild senna, locust plant. 
Habitat and range.—American senna generally frequents wet or swampy soils from 
New England to North Carolina and westward to Louisiana and Nebraska. 
Description.—This is a native species, a member of the senna family (Cesalpini- 
acez), which is closely related to the pea family. It is a perennial herb, its round 
grooved stems reaching about 4 to 6 feet in height. The leaves, which are borne on 
long, somewhat bristly 
hairy stalks, are 6 to 8 
inches long and consist of 
from 12 to 20 leaflets placed 
opposite to each other on 
the stem. Each leaflet is 
oblong or lance-shaped ob- 
long, blunt at the top but 
terminating with a short, 
stiff point, rounded at the 
base and from 1 to 14inches 
long, the stalks supporting 
them being rather short; 
the upper surface is of a 
pale-green color, while un- 
derneath it is still lighter 
in color and covered with 
a bloom. On the upper 
surface of the leaf stem, 
near its base, is a promi- 
nent club-shaped gland, 
borne on a stalk. 
The numerous yellow 
flowers are borne on slen- 
der, hairy stems, produced 
in clusters in the axils of 
the leaves at the top of the 
plant and appearing from 
about August to Septem- 
ber. The pods are about 
3 inches in length, linear, 
somewhat curved and drooping, slightly hairy at first, flat, and narrowed on the sides 
between the seeds. They contain numerous small, flat, dark-brown seeds. (Fig. 5.) 
Collection, prices, and uses.—The leaves, or rather the leaflets, are the parts employed 
and should be gathered at flowering time, which usually occurs during July 
and August. They were official in the United States Pharmacopceia from 1820 
to 1880. American senna leaves have a very slight odor and a rather disagreeable 
Fic. 5.—American senna (Cassia marilandica), leaves, flowers, and 
: seed pods. 
. taste, somewhat like that of the foreign senna. It is used for purposes similar to the 
well-known senna of commerce imported from abroad, having, like that, cathartic 
properties. 
The price at present paid for American senna is about 6 to 8 cents a pound. 
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