Home
Advanced Search Map Locator
View Settings
Nurseries Carrying this Plant Add Current Plant To List Edit Current Plant
Show all Photos

About Calscape Nurseries
California Garden Planner Bay Area Garden Planner (NEW) Planting Guide
Butterflies My Plant Lists
Contact Calscape
Tap map to see plants native to location
Order by Popularity Order by Common Name Order by Scientific Name Order by # of Butterflies Hosted
Show nursery cultivars Hide nursery cultivars
Show plants not in nurseries Hide plants not in nurseries
Grid view Text view
Loading....
Coves' Cassia
Senna covesii
  
3 Nurseries Carry This Plant

About Coves' Cassia (Senna covesii) 3 Nurseries Carry This Plant Senna covesii (Desert Senna, Coues' Senna, Rattleweed, "rattlebox", "dais" or "Cove Senna") is a perennial subshrub in the family Fabaceae, native to the Mojave Desert in southeastern California, southern Nevada, and Arizona in the United States, and northern Baja California in Mexico. It is found on desert plains and in sandy washes between 500-600 meter altitude, and very common in Joshua Tree National Park, and is also found in the Sonoran Desert. The specific name honors ornithologist Elliott Coues. It grows to 30-60 centimeter tall, and is leafless most of the year. The leaves are pinnate, 3-7 centimeter long, with 2-3 pairs of leaflets (no terminal leaflet), the leaflets elliptical, 1-2.5 centimeter long. The flowers are yellow in color, with five rounded petals about 12 millimeter long.
Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Perennial herb

Size
Size
1 - 2 ft tall

Flower Color
Flower Color
Yellow

Flowering Season
Flowering Season
Spring

Wildlife Supported
 


 
Butterflies & moths hosted ( 2 confirmed , 3 likely * ) SHOW ALL
Phoebis sennae Image
Cloudless Sulphur Phoebis sennaePhoebis sennae
Abaeis nicippe Image
Sleepy Orange Abaeis nicippeAbaeis nicippe
*
Hyles lineata Image
White-lined Sphinx Hyles lineataHyles lineata
*
Estigmene acrea Image
Salt Marsh Moth or Acrea Moth Estigmene acreaEstigmene acrea
*
Rudenia leguminana Image
Black-tipped Rudenia Moth Rudenia leguminanaRudenia leguminana

Landscaping Information
Sun
Sun
Full Sun

Moisture
Moisture
Low

Nurseries
Nurseries
Carried by 3

Ease of Care
Ease of Care
Moderately Easy

Soil Drainage
Soil Drainage
Fast

Propagation
Propagation?
For propagating by seed: No treatment.

Natural Setting
Site Type
Site Type
Dry, sandy slopes and desert washes

Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 3.0" - 14.3", Summer Precipitation: 0.37" - 2.65", Coldest Month: 44.8" - 60.0", Hottest Month: 72.3" - 88.9", Humidity: 2.77" - 39.72", Elevation: -70" - 4175"

Alternative Names
Common Names: Coues' Cassia, Coves's Cassia


Print Plant Sign Print Plant Label
Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links:   Jepson eFlora Taxon Page  CalPhotos  Wikipedia  Calflora


Sign in to your Calscape Account X




Once signed in, you'll be able to access any previously saved plant lists or create new ones.

Email Address
Password

Sign In