Perhaps better known by its synonym, Cassia meridionalis, the transfer to the genus Senna nevertheless occurred in 1995 and is now widely accepted by most botanists. These are shrubs in the legume family with gorgeous yellow flowers. The one offered here, however, is a dwarf shrub with a natural bonsai-like habit and thickened, pachycaulous trunk. It has been sparingly available in cultivation likely because it is somewhat shy to flower in a pot and, when it does, pollination is often not successful. That was Joe Stead’s experience at Orange Coast College where, under his expert cultivation, plants flowered readily enough, but failed to set seed despite attempts to pollinate. The problem seemed to be the lack of pollen dehiscence. Apparently, this is a “bee buzz” plant, in which pollen dehiscence is stimulated by the vibrations of certain pollinating bees. Not having trained bees on hand, Joe needed another way to stimulate the anthers to release their pollen. The creative solution he came up with was to use the vibration of an electric toothbrush. It worked like a charm as you can see in his video:
As a result, we are pleased to be able to offer a crop of stout seedlings from controlled pollination of plants originally collected by John Lavranos in Madagascar. HBG 144196. $20.
Published in the Cactus and Succulent Journal, Vol. 96 (2), Summer 2024