Antbush

Senna occidentalis is an annual to short-lived perennial subshrub of the Fabaceae family, typically 0.5 to 2 metres tall, with erect, slightly woody, glabrous green stems that often turn purplish with age. The pinnately compound leaves are 10 to 25 centimetres long and bear four to six pairs of opposite, ovate-lanceolate leaflets 2 to 9 centimetres long with acuminate tips and an unpleasant odour when bruised; a conspicuous dark gland sits near the base of the petiole. Short axillary or terminal racemes carry several bright yellow flowers about 1.5 to 2 centimetres across, each with five free petals, ten unequal stamens and a curved ovary. The flattened, slightly curved legume pods, 7 to 13 centimetres long and about 8 millimetres wide, are dark brown when ripe and contain 20 to 40 hard, dull olive-brown ovoid seeds arranged in a single row. Native to the Americas and now pantropical, it inhabits disturbed ground, roadsides, pastures and cultivated fields in warm regions.