"Cassia bicapsularis" and "Cassia emarginata" redirect here. These taxa have been used for other plants too; see below.

Senna bicapsularis is a species of the legume genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 Senna

Senna (genus)

Senna , the sennas, is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae. This diverse genus is native throughout the tropics, with a small number of species reaching into temperate regions. The number of species is usually estimated to be about 260, but some...

, native to northern South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

, from Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

 south to Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

 and Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

, and also the West Indies. It is naturalised

Naturalisation (biology)

In biology, naturalisation is any process by which a non-native organism spreads into the wild and its reproduction is sufficient to maintain its population. Such populations are said to be naturalised....

 and invasive in several coastal areas in the tropics, including the Galápagos Islands

Galápagos Islands

The Galápagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, west of continental Ecuador, of which they are a part.The Galápagos Islands and its surrounding waters form an Ecuadorian province, a national park, and a...

 and New Caledonia

New Caledonia

New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...

. Common names include Rambling Senna (formerly "cassia"), Christmas Bush, Money Bush, and Yellow Candlewood.

It is a shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

 growing to 3.5 m tall. The leaves

Leaf

A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....

 are 2.5–9 cm long, pinnate, with six to eight leaflets; the leaflets are 1.6–4.5 cm long and 1.1–2.3 cm broad. The flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

s are produced a few together on short raceme

Raceme

A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...

s, the individual flowers yellow, 12–16 mm long.

Synonyms

Senna bicapsularis has been described under a wide variety of names that are today considered its synonym

Synonym

Synonyms are different words with almost identical or similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn and onoma . The words car and automobile are synonyms...

s. Some of these were also applied to related plants in error. This phenomenon has happened with other taxa, which were mis-applied to this plant:

• Adipera bicapsularis (L.) Britton & Wilson
• Adipera spiciflora Pittier
• Cassia berterii Colla
• Cassia bicapsularis L.

Cassia bicapsularis sensu Bojer is erroneous for Senna pendula.

Cassia bicapsularis of other authors is erroneous for Senna pendula var. glabrata

• Cassia bicapsularis L. var. aristata DC.

Cassia aristata Benth. is a synonym of Chamaecrista aristata

• Cassia bicapsularis L. var. quadrijuga DC.
• Cassia collae G.Don
• Cassia emarginata L.

Cassia emarginata Clos is a synonym of Senna candolleana

Cassia emarginata Mill. is a synonym of Chamaecrista pilosa

• Cassia inflata Spreng.
• Cassia laevigata sensu Prain

Cassia laevigata Willd. is a synonym of Senna septemtrionalis

Senna septemtrionalis

Senna septemtrionalis is a plant species in the genus Senna....

Cassia laevigata of other authors is erroneous for Senna occidentalis

Senna occidentalis

Senna occidentalis is a pantropical plant species.Vernacular names include : ʻauʻaukoʻi in Hawaii, coffee senna, coffeeweed, Mogdad coffee, negro-coffee, senna coffee, Stephanie coffee, stinkingweed or styptic weed....

• Cassia limensis Lam.
• Cassia sennoides Jacq.
• Cassia spiciflora (Pittier) Pittier
• Cathartocarpus bicapsularis (L.) Ham.
• Chamaefistula inflata G.Don
• Isandrina arborescens Raf.
• Isandrina emarginata (L.) Britton & Rose