Desert cassia senna polyphylla

High Resolution JPEG Picture of Desert Cassia (Senna polyphylla) is a shrub or occasionally a small tree of dry and moist forests of the middle Caribbean, now cultivated as an ornamental. It develops a root system with a strong taproot. Twigs are slender, warty, and light green, maturing to brown. Leaves are alternate or clustered three to five at the nodes. The five-petaled flowers are yellow in color and grouped in axillary racemes of mostly two flowers. The legume is linear, slightly contorted, flattened between the seeds, and dark brown at maturity. The seeds are round, flattened, and dark brown.