{{Short description|Species of legume}} {{Speciesbox |image = Starr 070111-3260 Senna pendula.jpg |status = |status_system = |status_ref = |genus = Senna |species = pendula |authority = (Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby |subdivision_ranks = Varieties |subdivision = 17; see text |subdivision_ref = <ref name = powo>{{cite web |title=''Senna pendula'' (Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:911386-1 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=8 February 2025}}</ref> |synonyms = *''Cassia indecora'' var. ''pendula'' {{small|(Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.) Vogel}} *''Cassia pendula'' {{small|Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.}} *''Chamaefistula pendula'' {{small|(Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.) G.Don}} |synonyms_ref = <ref name = powo/> }}

'''''Senna pendula''''', also known as '''Easter Cassia''', '''Christmas Senna''',{{efn|Known as such in the southern hemisphere due its minor flowering season around Christmastime, although this name is also applied to Senna bicapsularis.}} '''winter Senna''',{{efn|Known as such in the northern hemisphere due to its flowering in early wintertime.}} '''climbing Cassia''', '''golden shower''', '''pendant Senna''' and '''valamuerto''',<ref>[https://keyserver.lucidcentral.org/weeds/data/media/Html/senna_pendula_var._glabrata.htm Senna pendula var. Glabrata] by Weeds of Australia (biosecurity Queensland edition), Queensland Government. Retrieved 13 April 2020</ref> is a plant of the Fabaceae family with a shrub habit that is native to South America. It used in various parts of the world as an ornamental plant and is an environmental weed in Australia. The flowers are yellow and the name ''pendula'' means 'pendulous' or 'drooping'.<ref>Irwin, HS & Barneby, RC, 1982 Mem.New York Bot.Gard.35: 1-918 [in 2 parts] American Cassiinae</ref>

==Description== thumb|left|240px|Flower close-up thumb|240px|left|Shrubland naturalisation It is a fast-growing,<ref>[https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/weeds-australia/profile/Senna%20pendula#:~:text=Quick%20facts,by%20physical%20or%20chemical%20means. Senna pendula (Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby] by Weeds Australia</ref> spreading, scrambling or erect shrub that reaches 2–4 metres in height with multi-branched and arching stems and branches. Its single-compound, hairless leaves feature three to six duos of wide leaflets that are 1–5&nbsp;cm long and 5–20&nbsp;mm wide with rounded tips and salient yellowish margins.<ref name="RFK">{{cite web |author1=F.A.Zich |author2=B.P.M.Hyland |author3=T.Whiffen |author4=R.A.Kerrigan |author2-link=Bernard Hyland |year=2020 |url=https://apps.lucidcentral.org/rainforest/text/entities/Senna_pendula_var._glabrata.htm |title=''Senna pendula'' var. ''glabrata'' |website=Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants Edition 8 (RFK8) |publisher=Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR), Australian Government |access-date=28 June 2021}}</ref>

''Senna pendula'' is distinguished from ''Senna bicapsularis'' which has 3 pairs of leaflets on each leaf, while this one has 4–7 pairs of leaflets on each leaf and a gland between each pair of leaflets. ''S. bicapsularis'' has flowers borne on rather short pedicels (flower stalks) that are less than half a centimeter in length, whereas ''S. pendula'' has flowers borne on longer (1 to 3&nbsp;cm) pedicels. ''S. pendula'' may flower from as early as late summer, whereas ''S. bicapsularis'' blooms from late autumn to winter.<ref name = UFL>[https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/mastergardener/newsletter/2018/more/cassia-confusion.html Christmas Cassia Causes Confusion] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130041842/https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/mastergardener/newsletter/2018/more/cassia-confusion.html |date=2021-11-30 }} By Marc Frank, University of Florida</ref>

===Inflorescences=== Its bright yellow flowers, which are about 3&nbsp;cm across, have five large petals and are foaled in leafy clumps at the tips of the branches. The fruit is in a cylindrical pod (10–20&nbsp;cm long and 6–12&nbsp;mm wide) that hangs down. It flowers prominently at Easter in the southern hemisphere (or early autumn), hence its common name. It also has an insignificant flowering season in early summer (around Christmas in the southern hemisphere).<ref>Irwin.H.S.& Barneby,R.C., 1982 Mem.N.Y.Bot.Gard.35(1 & 2):1-918 The American Cassiinae</ref>

==Varieties== thumb|240px|A large Easter cassia 17 varieties are accepted.<ref name = powo/>

*''Senna pendula'' var. ''ambigua'' {{small|H.S.Irwin & Barneby}} – southeastern Brazil *''Senna pendula'' var. ''dolichandra'' {{small|H.S.Irwin & Barneby}} – eastern Brazil *''Senna pendula'' var. ''eriocarpa'' {{small|(Griseb.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby}} – Bolivia and northwestern Argentina *''Senna pendula'' var. ''glabrata'' {{small|(Vogel) H.S.Irwin & Barneby}} – Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay *''Senna pendula'' var. ''hemirostrata'' {{small|(Lassen) H.S.Irwin & Barneby}} – Belize, Guatemala, and southeastern Mexico *''Senna pendula'' var. ''indecora'' {{small|(Kunth) Luckow}} – southern Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, Colombia, and Venezuela *''Senna pendula'' var. ''indistincta'' {{small|H.S.Irwin & Barneby}} – northern and northeastern Brazil *''Senna pendula'' var. ''meticola'' {{small|H.S.Irwin & Barneby}} – Venezuela *''Senna pendula'' var. ''missionum'' {{small|H.S.Irwin & Barneby}} – northeastern Argentina (Misiones) *''Senna pendula'' var. ''ovalifolia'' {{small|(Britton & Rose) H.S.Irwin & Barneby}} – Mexico and northern Argentina *''Senna pendula'' var. ''paludicola'' {{small|H.S.Irwin & Barneby}} – Bolivia, northeastern Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and southern and west-central Brazil *''Senna pendula'' var. ''pendula'' – Mexico to western Brazil *''Senna pendula'' var. ''praeandina'' {{small|H.S.Irwin & Barneby}} – Peru, Bolivia, and northern Brazil *''Senna pendula'' var. ''recondita'' {{small|H.S.Irwin & Barneby}} – southern Brazil *''Senna pendula'' var. ''scandens'' {{small|(Benth.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby}} – Bolivia and Peru *''Senna pendula'' var. ''stahlii'' {{small|(Urb.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby}} – Puerto Rico *''Senna pendula'' var. ''tenuifolia'' {{small|(Benth.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby}} – Peru, Bolivia, and western Brazil

==Cultivation== ''Senna pendula'' was introduced as a garden plant in Australia in 1957, where it was described in a Brisbane nursery catalogue as, "a useful shrub bearing masses of buttercup-shaped flowers in autumn and early winter". Much sought for, gardeners had paid four shillings to purchase this plant during the mid 20th century. The shrub was in the market for many decades, though now it is no longer sold due its invasive nature.<ref>[https://www.couriermail.com.au/ipad/easter-blooms-bring-hidden-menace/news-story/78c8a6850b8cd6e178c65381c1687c6b Easter blooms bring hidden menace] by Annette McFarlane from The Courier</ref>

In Florida, ''Senna pendula'' is usually cultivated as, and misapplied to, ''Senna bicapsularis''. An investigation of herbarium specimens from the University of Florida, University of South Florida, and Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden had suggested that true ''Senna bicapsularis'' is very scarce in cultivation in Florida, whereas ''Senna pendula'' is more common and widespread.<ref>[https://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/excluded.aspx?id=522 Senna bicapsularis] Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa.</ref><ref name = UFL/>

==Invasive species== The ''S. p. glabrata'' variety has become naturalised, and is also an environmental weed, in eastern Australia in the coastal and sub-coastal regions of south-eastern Queensland and New South Wales, where it is found in watercourses, gardens, disturbed sites, wastelands, roadsides, closed forests, forest margins and urban bushland.<ref>[https://weeds.brisbane.qld.gov.au/weeds/easter-cassia Easter cassia Senna pendula var. Glabrata] by the Brisbane City Council Weed Identification Tool. Retrieved 13 April 2020</ref>

It is spread by seed, suckers and dumped garden waste.<ref>[https://weeds.dpi.nsw.gov.au/Weeds/Cassia Cassia (Senna pendula var. Glabrata)] by NSW WeedWise</ref> Despite it being invasive, it is not a prohibited or restricted invasive plant under the Biosecurity Act 2015.<ref>[https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/farms-fishing-forestry/agriculture/land-management/health-pests-weeds-diseases/weeds-diseases/invasive-plants/other/easter-cassia Easter cassia] by Business Queensland from Queensland Government</ref>

==Gallery== <gallery> File:Starr 070321-6034 Senna pendula.jpg|Budding flowers File:Senna pendula6.jpg|Growing towards a tree File:Starr 070111-3268 Senna pendula.jpg|Cut flower File:Starr 070321-6035 Senna pendula.jpg|Seed pods File:Senna pendula4.jpg|Ornamental plant File:Senna pendula (Willd.) H.S.Irwin ^ Barneby - Flickr - Alex Popovkin, Bahia, Brazil (3).jpg|Leaves closeup File:Senna pendula (Willd.) H.S.Irwin ^ Barneby - Flickr - Alex Popovkin, Bahia, Brazil (6).jpg|Flower closeup File:Starr 070111-3261 Senna pendula.jpg|Leaves and flowers File:Senna pendula2.jpg|In a bushland </gallery>

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{Wikispecies|Senna pendula|''Senna pendula''}} {{Commons category|Senna pendula|''Senna pendula''}} {{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q10370080}}

bicapsularis Category:Flora of Northeast Argentina Category:Flora of Northwest Argentina Category:Flora of Bolivia Category:Flora of Brazil Category:Flora of Central America Category:Flora of Colombia Category:Flora of Cuba Category:Flora of Ecuador Category:Flora of Hispaniola Category:Flora of Mexico Category:Flora of Paraguay Category:Flora of Peru Category:Flora of Puerto Rico Category:Flora of Trinidad and Tobago Category:Flora of Venezuela Category:Flora naturalised in Australia Category:Ornamental plants Category:Plants described in 1809