General Information

COMMON NAMES: Sicklepod, Foetid Cassia, Peanut Weed, Sicklepod, Arsenic Weed, Java Bean TRADITIONAL NAMES: Pī ‘Aungakino (MK) GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE tropical America COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Naturalised; Land, lowlands SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Weed (Mauke); Weed - very serious (Mauke only) KEY FEATURES: An erect annual shrub to 2.5m with foul-smelling leaves. Leaves with 3 pairs of opposite leaflets; flowers pale yellow; seed-pod slender and curved. Introduced to Mauke only (as of 2001), where it is a serious weed throughout the volcanic inlands. Native of the tropical Americas.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present    Makatea: Present
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
-	-	-	++++	-	-	-	-	-

Northern Group: -
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
-	-	-	-	-	-

Senna obtusifolia Linnaeus
SYNONYMS: Cassia obtusifolia; Cassia tora [sensu Hawaiian bot.]

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); ROSIDAE; Fabales (Legumes); CAESALPINIACEAE

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
POSITIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Weed (Mauke)
NEGATIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Weed - very serious (Mauke only). Comments: The most widespread weedy shrub on Mauke. Forms very dense thickets and is very difficult to remove. This plant is recorded on Mauke only and every effort should be made to prevent it accidentally spreading to other islands.

IDENTIFICATION: An erect annual shrub-like herb to 2.5m. LEAVES foul smelling; alternate, compound, with 3-pairs of leaflets. LEAFLETS oval widest toward tip, to 6x3cm, tip round, base very unequal. STIPULES 2, slender to 15x2mm. FLOWERS in leaf-axis, 1-2, pale yellow, 2cmØ, 5 petals to 10cm. FRUIT slender 4-angled pod to 15cmx5mm, sickle-shaped; 20-40 seeds; splits when ripe. SEEDS flattened, glossy, brown, to 5mm.

GENERAL NOTE: Declared a serious noxious weed in Queensland. Although not normally eaten by any domestic stock, the seed-pods are sometimes eaten by cattle and horses and it is thus spread from property to property. Control by slashing with blunt-blade slasher to shatter stems - it reshoots after sharp slashing; herbicides; dense grass-cover prevents Sicklepod seed germination and hastens seed decomposition. [DNR Facts, pest series, Dept. Natural Resources, Queensland Gov.]

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.700 Wagner et al.- Flowering Plants of Hawaii
p.422 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.1075 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants
p.3/110? A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zD02

Web Resources

• Google
• Google Images