{{Short description|Perennial subshrub}} {{Speciesbox | image = Senna covesii – Coves' Cassia, 2013 - panoramio.jpg | image_caption = | status = G5 | status_system = TNC | taxon = Senna covesii | authority = (A.Gray) H.S.Irwin & Barneby | synonyms = ''Cassia covesii'' <small>A.Gray</small><br /> ''Earleocassia covesii'' <small>(A.Gray) Britton & Rose</small>| }}

[[File:Desertsenna.JPG|thumb|Desert Senna flower, Water Ranch Riparian Preserve, Gilbert, Arizona.]] '''''Senna covesii''''' ('''desert senna''', '''Coues' senna''',<ref>Formerly "Coues' cassia". Desert cassia, though, is a different species, ''Cassia eremophila'' Vogel.</ref> '''rattleweed''', '''rattlebox''', '''dais''', or '''cove senna''') is a perennial subshrub in the family Fabaceae, native to the Mojave Desert and Sonoran Desert in southeastern California, southern Nevada, and Arizona in the United States, and northern Baja California in Mexico. It is found on desert plains and in sandy washes between 300 and 900 m above sea level, and is very common in Joshua Tree National Park. The specific epithet honors ornithologist Elliott Coues.

It grows to 30–60&nbsp;cm tall, and is leafless most of the year. The leaves are pinnate, 3–7&nbsp;cm long, with two or three pairs of leaflets (no terminal leaflet); the leaflets are elliptical, 1.0-2.5&nbsp;cm long. The flowers are yellow in color, with five rounded petals about 12&nbsp;mm long.

This shrub is often planted by landscapers and as part of roadside wildflower programs. Flowers are visited by carpenter bees and bumblebees. Sulphur butterflies use the plant as a larval food source.<ref>Soule, J.A. 2012. Butterfly Gardening in Southern Arizona. Tierra del Soule Press, Tucson, AZ</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}} * Fiero, Brad (2001): Desert Ecology of Tucson, AZ - [http://wc.pima.edu/~bfiero/tucsonecology/plants/wflow_dese.htm Desert Senna (''Senna covesii'')] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060823225207/http://wc.pima.edu/~bfiero/tucsonecology/plants/wflow_dese.htm |date=2006-08-23 }}. Version of 2001-AUG-01. Retrieved 2007-DEC-20. * McClintock, Elizabeth (1993): ''Senna covesii''. ''In:'' {{aut|Hickman, James C. (ed.)}}: ''The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California''. University of California Press, Berkeley. <small>{{ISBN|0-520-08255-9}}</small> [http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?Senna%20covesii HTML fulltext] * Stewart, Jon Mark (1998): ''Mojave Desert Wildflowers'': p.&nbsp;73. Jon Stewart Photography. <small>{{ISBN|0-9634909-1-5}}</small>

==External links== * [https://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=SECO10 USDA Plants Profile] * [http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Senna+covesii Photo gallery]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q10956078}}

covesii Category:North American desert flora Category:Flora of the California desert regions Category:Flora of the Sonoran Deserts