AusTraits

Senna occidentalis

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Fabaceae

Taxonomy: Senna occidentalis (L.) Link

Synonyms: 2 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Cassia occidentalis L. (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Cassia occidentalis L. var. occidentalis (nomenclatural synonym)

Distribution (APC): WA (naturalised), CoI (naturalised), ChI (naturalised), NT (naturalised), SA (naturalised), Qld (naturalised), NSW (naturalised)

Profiles: APC, Flora of Australia, ALA, iNaturalist, NSW Flora, NT eFlora, SA eFlora, Florabase, ATRP

Traits

Top source datasets: ABRS_2022 (4), ABRS_2023 (18), Cooper_2013 (13), Crowley_2007 (2), Draper_2023 (3), NHNSW_2014_2 (5), NHNSW_2022 (3), NHNSW_2023 (21), NTH_2022 (4), NTH_2023 (20), Nano_2011 (2), Sjostrom_2006 (4), Sweedman_2006 (2), WAH_2022_2 (3), WAH_2023_2 (2), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 35 traits from 109 records in 17 datasets.

Traits by category (click to expand). For categorical traits, the values are listed. For numerical traits, the mean and range are shown.

fire response
flower morphology
  • flower_colour (categorical): yellow_orange (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 128.75 mm (100-180 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; Cooper_2013; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023]
  • fruit_width (numerical): 7.12 mm (3-11 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; Cooper_2013; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023]
  • fruit_height (numerical): 6.25 mm (3-11 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023]
  • fruit_type (categorical): legume (5) [sources: ABRS_2023; Cooper_2013; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (2) [sources: Cooper_2013; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): dehiscent (3) [sources: Cooper_2013; NTH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_colour (categorical): brown (2); yellow (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_length (numerical): 99.17 mm (35-170 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 32.33 mm (15-40 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023]
  • petiole_length (numerical): 3 cm (2-4 cm) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): lanceolate (1); obovate (1); ovate (2); widely_elliptical (2) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): entire (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): compound (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2014_2; NTH_2023]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023]
life history
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): shrub (6) [sources: ABRS_2022; Cooper_2013; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • life_history (categorical): annual (2); perennial (4) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): woody (5) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): erect (2); prostrate (1) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2014_2; NTH_2022]
  • pollination_syndrome (categorical): insect (1) [sources: Draper_2023]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): epizoochory (1); hydrochory (1); zoochory (1) [sources: Draper_2023]
  • dispersers (categorical): abiotic (1); animals (1); water (1) [sources: Draper_2023]
  • flowering_time (categorical): nyyyyyynnnnn (1); yynnnnnnnnny (1) [sources: Cooper_2013; NHNSW_2014_2]
  • bud_bank_location (categorical): none (2) [sources: Crowley_2007; Nano_2011]
seed morphology
  • seed_length (numerical): 4.72 mm (4.2-5 mm) [sources: Cooper_2013; NTH_2023]
  • seed_width (numerical): 3 mm (2-4 mm) [sources: NTH_2023]
  • seed_shape (categorical): ovoid (1); ovoid_elongated (1) [sources: NTH_2023]
whole plant morphology
  • plant_height (numerical): 1.7 m (0.15-2.5 m) [sources: ABRS_2023; Cooper_2013; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; WAH_2023_2]

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
NHNSW_20231221N. H. of New South Wales. The Plant Information Network System of The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust Version 2.0.. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
NTH_20231420D. of Land Resource Management and N. T. of Australia. Northern Territory Flora Online. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: http://eflora.nt.gov.au/.
ABRS_20231218Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
Cooper_20131013W. Cooper and W. T. Cooper. Australian rainforest fruits. CSIRO Publishing, 2013, p. 272.
NHNSW_2014_255Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
ABRS_202244Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
NTH_202244D. of Land Resource Management and N. T. of Australia. Northern Territory Flora Online. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: http://eflora.nt.gov.au/.
Sjostrom_200644A. Sjöström and C. L. Gross. “Life-history characters and phylogeny are correlated with extinction risk in the Australian angiosperms”. Journal of Biogeography 33.2 (2006), pp. 271-290. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2005.01393.x.
Draper_202333J. T. Draper, S. Delean, J. G. Conran, P. Weinstein, and B. S. Simpson. “Life-history characteristics and climate correlates of dioecious plant species in central southern Australia”. Australian Journal of Botany unknown.unknown (2023), p. unknown. doi: 10.1071/BT22110.
NHNSW_202233N. H. of New South Wales. The Plant Information Network System of The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust Version 2.0.. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
WAH_2022_233Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Crowley_200722G. Crowley, M. Gardener, and M. Marrinan. Tropical savannas fire response database. 2007. url: [www.landmanager.org.au](www.landmanager.org.au).
Nano_201122C. E. M. Nano and P. J. Clarke. “How do drought and fire influence the patterns of resprouting in Australian deserts?”. Plant Ecology 212 (2011), pp. 2095-2110. doi: 10.1007/s11258-011-9988-x.
Sweedman_200622L. Sweedman and D. Merritt. Australian Seeds: A Guide to Their Collection, Identification, and Biology. CSIRO Publishing, 2006. ISBN: 9780643094079.
WAH_2023_212Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Wenk_202222E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.