Senna hebecarpa, with the common names American senna and wild senna, is a species of legume native to eastern North America. (1916): Wild Flowers: An Aid to Knowledge of our Wild Flowers and their Insect Visitors. TXT fulltext at Project Gutenberg (1917): Wild Flowers Worth Knowing. HTML or TXT fulltext at Project Gutenberg
Description Senna hebecarpa grows as a sparsely branched perennial plant. It has alternate, compound leaves.
Clusters of light yellow to orange flowers bloom from July to August in North America.
Distribution and habitat The plant is found from the Great Lakes region and Maine southwards through the Eastern United States, in the Appalachian Mountains and Atlantic Plains, to Georgia.
It is found in moist open woodlands, and in disturbed areas.
Ecology It is a larval host and nectar source for the Cloudless Giant Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) butterfly. It is also of special value to native bumble bees.The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation: Pollinator Conservation Program
Conservation status in the United States It is listed as endangered in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, threatened in Vermont, historical in Rhode Island, and threatened in Connecticut."Connecticut's Endangered, Threatened and Special Concern Species 2015". State of Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Bureau of Natural Resources. Retrieved 1 January 2018. (Note: This list is newer and updated from the one used by plants.usda.gov)
Uses Senna hebecarpa is cultivated as an ornamental plant, for use as a perennial wildflower and flowering shrub in traditional and wildlife gardens, in natural landscaping projects, and for habitat restoration projects.
Native American ethnobotany The Cherokee use an infusion of the plant for various purposes, including taking it for cramps, heart trouble, giving it to children and adults as a purgative and for fever, and taking it for 'blacks' (hands and eye sockets turn black). They also give an infusion of the root specifically to children for fever. They use a poultice of the root for sores, and they use a compound infusion for fainting spells. They also use a compound for pneumonia.Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey, 1975, Cherokee Plants and Their Uses -- A 400 Year History, Sylva, N.C. Herald Publishing Co., page 54 The Haudenosaunee use the plant as a worm remedy and take a compound decoction as a laxative.Herrick, James William, 1977, Iroquois Medical Botany, State University of New York, Albany, PhD Thesis, page 362
References
External links USDA Plants Profile for Senna hebecarpa (American senna) University of Michigan—Dearborn: Native American Ethnobotany of Senna hebecarpa Connecticut Botanical Society: Senna hebecarpa Illinois Wildflowers: Senna hebecarpa