Flora of New Zealand Series

Shrub to 2-(3) m high, not armed; twigs glabrous or sparsely hairy, finely ribbed, rounded. Lvs 1-paripinnate, usually glabrous or sparsely ciliate, sparsely hairy when young, petiolate; leaflets ovate-elliptic, usually acuminate, sometimes acute, entire, subsessile or shortly petiolulate, (30)-45-90-(110) mm long, in 3-4-(5) opposite pairs; protruding glands mostly present between each pair of leaflets; stipules deciduous. Infl. axillary, racemose, 6-12-flowered, < lvs; bracts and bracteoles ovate-triangular, caducous, 3-6 mm long. Calyx teeth very unequal, obtuse. Corolla golden yellow, c. 2 cm long; stamens 7; staminodes 3. Pod tardily dehiscent, glabrous, straight, terete, many-seeded, 5-10 cm long; seeds smooth, brown, 4-6 mm long.

N.: scattered localities in Northland, Auckland City, and Opotiki District; K.

Mexico, C. America 1965

Established locally in waste places, old gardens, and open forest.

FL Dec-Apr.

S. septemtrionalis is an attractive shrub often cultivated and establishing locally as a garden escape. The sp. is rather variable in lf form; leaflets are usually ovate-elliptic and acuminate but some plants have elliptic, subacute leaflets. One naturalised collection (CHR 226710, Zoological Gardens, Auckland, Sykes, 28.1.1972) represents a hybrid, S. multiglandulosa × S. septemtrionalis. S. septemtrionalis has been known previously in N.Z. as Cassia corymbosa, C. floriburda, and C. laevigata.