Italian senna, Senegal senna, Mecca senna
Senna italica

Family: Fabaceae

What it is like

A herb or small shrub. It keeps growing from year to year. It can grow 1 m tall. It has a taproot. The base is woody and the stems are soft. It lies along the ground and has upright flower stalks. The leaves are compound with leaflets along the stalk. They have 3-7 pairs of leaflets. These are unequal in shape and oval. The flowers are yellow. They are 2-2.5 cm across. The fruit are large pods that are flat and have a ridge along them. There are some subspecies.

Also as Caesalpinaceae.

Where it is found

It is a subtropical plant. It grows in hot, arid places with a marked dry season. It can have a dry season of 6-11 months and can grow in warm temperate humid locations. It grows in areas with an rainfall below 500 mm. It can grow in acid and salty soils. They can be stony or sandy. It grows between 50-1,830 m above sea level. It can grow in arid places.

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Angola, Asia, Bahrain, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Central Africa, Chad, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, East Africa, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Mediterranean, Middle East, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, North Africa, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Sahara, SE Asia, Senegal, Socotra, Somalia, South Africa, Southern Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, UAE, West Africa, Western Sahara, West Indies, Yemen, Zimbabwe

How it is used for food

The young seeds are cooked and eaten. They are also used as a coffee substitute. The seeds are sometimes used as food. They are also added to beer.

Edible parts

Seeds - coffee, seeds, vegetable, leaves

How it is grown

Its other names

Local names

Ashrig, Ashrij, Balabali, Dan gywe, Eshraj, Ghora wal, Impengu, Jar birna, Tripoli senna, Ushruq, Valagit

Synonyms

Cassia caracasana Jacq.; Cassia hirsuta L.; Cassia tomentosa Arn.; Cassia venenifera G. Mey.; Cassia venenifera Rodschied ex G. Meyer; Ditremexa hirsuta (L.) Britton & Wilson; Cassia aschrek Forsskal; = Senna italica subsp. italica; Cassia italica (Miller) Sprengel subsp. italica; ? Cassia obovata Colladon; = Senna italica subsp. italica;