Flora of Dominica, Part 2 - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

112 FABACEAE SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO BOTANY
Sabinea A.P. Candolle (Faboid)
Sabinea carinalis
Sabinea carinalis Grisebach, 1860:183.
Shrub to 3 m; leaflets in 6-8 pairs, -1.5 cm x 0.5 cm, oblong
with mucro; inflorescences on old wood, just before leafing;
calyx nearly truncate; flowers deep red to scarlet, showy, keel
2.5 cm; stamens equal, 9+1; style subulate with stigma
terminal, pod flattened, long-stipitate, the thin valves twisting.
Endemic to Dominica, along west coast in dry scrub: Batali
(Ramuge s.n., 28 Feb 1888), Canefield ravine (Whitefoord
6100), Dublanc (Whitefoord 5705), Mero-Layou area (Chambers
2802, Imray 33 at K, Wasshausen & Ayensu 406, Webster
13273), Spanish Mountain near summit (Whitefoord 5660),
sine loc. (Imray 92,93,102 (type) at K).
Flowering February-April (rarely June), the time appears to
be controlled by rains during or after the dry season. A showy
species, perhaps rather rare.
A specimen (Atchison 98) cultivated at Atkins Garden, Cuba,
gives the chromosome count as 2n = 16.
Grisebach cited an Imray collection of Sabinia florida,
apparently Imray 33, actually S. carinulis. Sabiniajlorida is an
endemic of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and differs from
S. carinalis by its lavender to pale purple flowers and having
five stamens half as long as the other five.
Senna Miller (Caesalpinoid)
Herbs, shrubs or trees; leaves evenly 1-pinnate; stamens 10,
3 sterile; anthers basifixed, opening by terminal pores; pods
inertly dehiscent, flattened or terete.
Rupert Bameby (NY) reviewed identifications and an early
draft during a visit in 1977. I am most grateful for his
invaluable help.
Senna bacillaris (Linnaeus f.) Irwin & Barneby (incl. Cassia
bacillaris Linnaeus f.) is shrubby and has only two pairs of
leaflets with a gland between the lowest pair (Botanic Gardens,
Fairchild 2765, Hodge 903).
Spectacular, yellow-flowered Sennu multijuga (L. Richard)
Irwin & Barneby is planted in the Antrim Valley (Nicolson
1866) and has >15 pairs of leaflets that are 4 cm long with a
gland only between the lowest pair.
Senna sophera (Linnaeus) Roxburgh, is very similar to S.
occidentalis and was reported for Dominica by Kellogg (in
Howard, 1988, 4:428). It has longer (1 cm or more) floral
peduncles, a recurved style strongly dilated at apex, and a
subterete fruit.
1. Petiole lacking glands; leaflets large (-10 cm x 4 cm),
rounded at apex; fruits 4-winged .........
S. alata
1. Petiole bearing 1-several glands, either below or between
the leaflets; leaflets smaller (to 5 cm) or, if larger, then
acute at apex; fruits unwinged.
2. Petiolar gland at base of petiole, far below first pair of
leaflets; leaflets acute.
3. Petiole and leaflets pubescent .......
S. hirsuta
3. Petiole and leaflets glabrous ..... S. occidentalis
2. Petiolar gland(s) between lowest pair(s) of leaflets;
leaflets rounded to obtuse.
4. Stipules deciduous, glabrous; leaflets rounded, not
S. bieapsularis
apiculate ...............
4. Stipules persistent, pubescent; leaflets rounded to
obtuse, apiculate.
5. Areoles on both sides of seed linear (0.3-0.5 mm);
the 3 larger anthers narrowed just below the apex,
forming a bottle-like neck, pedicels longer (of
flowers usually 1.2-3.5 cm, of fruits 1.5-4.5 cm);
usually a single gland between only the lowest pair
of leaflets but sometimes between both lower pairs
.................... S. obtusifolia
5. Areoles on both sides of seed broad (1.5-2.0 mm),
almost as wide as the seed itself; the 3 larger
anthers abruptly rounded at the apex; pedicels
shorter (of flowers 0.5-1.0 cm, of fruits to 1.5 cm);
a gland between both lower pairs of leaflets
....................... S. tora
Senna alata
Senna alata (Lirmaeus) Roxburgh, 1832,2:349.--Irwin & Bameby, 1982:460.
Cassia ahta haeus, 1753:378.
Herpetica alata (Linnaeus) Rafinesque, 1838 123.
Ringworm shrub, desay (Carib).
Shrub to 4 m; leaflets 6-12 pairs, the lowest pair widely
separated from rest of pairs, minutely puberulent, oblong, the
upper pair obovate, 5-17 cm long, retuse or obtuse; fruit
pendant, 10-15 cm long, longitudinally undulate-winged, the
wings 5 mm wide.
Neotropics but widely naturalized; hillsides and waste
ground in Dominica at lower elevations: Carib Reserve (Hodge
3400), Mahaut (Hodge 1303).
Caribs bathe themselves with the juice of crushed leaves to
treat skin diseases (Hodge and Taylor, 1957561).
Senna bicapsularis
Senna bicopsuiaris (Linnaeus) Roxburgh, 1832:342.-hin & Bameby.
1982:399.
Cassia bicapsularir Linnaeus, 1753:376.
Mipera bicopsukaris (Linnaeus) Britton & Rose ex Brinon & Wilson, 1924,
5:370.
Sou marque.
Shrub k climbing, to 3.5 m; leaflets 3-5 pairs, glabrous,
elliptic to orbiculate, 1-4 cm long, rounded; fruit pendant,
6-15 cm long, k terete.
Neotropical but widely spread; in dry scrub woodland at low
elevations in Dominica: Bataka (Taylor 143), Cabrit Swamp
(Whitefoord 5274), Dublanc (Hodge 2516), Hatton Estate