American Senna

Senna hebecarpa

Description

***Senna is considered endangered in Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, threatened in Vermont and Connecticut, and historical in our home state of Rhode Island, so growing Senna in these states is of particular importance!***

Senna is a very hardy shrub with beautiful, feathery compound leaves and loads of lovely yellow flowers that the pollinators adore. They grow about 3-5’ each season and can spread quite wide, but tend to die back each year and regrow from the roots and can be easily kept in check with pruning. Senna makes flat seeds that will often germinate the following spring wherever they land which can then be dug up and transplanted, or the seeds can be collected and dried for more deliberate planting.

The ecological value of Senna is very high. As a nitrogen fixer, Senna makes a great support plant for other trees and shrubs by helping to fertilize them, and can be chop-n-dropped to add nitrogen-rich mulch to any plants in the area. As stated above, Senna is also endangered or threatened in many states, so propagation of this plant is very important. Senna has very little pressure from deer or rabbit browse.

Senna has historically been used by the Cherokee and Iroquois for medicinal purposes, but this is an area we at Nuts & Bolts need to learn more about. If you or anyone you know could help teach us about this, we would love to hear from you.

We offer senna as bare-root plants. Their roots are naturally black and with stems that die back in the fall the plants might look sad, but plant them with care and confidence and they shall not disappoint you.

Site Preference

Senna can fix its own nitrogen so they don’t need the richest soil. They like full sun but will also tolerate quite a bit of shade. Can tolerate wetter soils.

Hardiness

Zone 4