ID Needed

Hi All! Brand new here... we recently bought a house in Zone 9b (Clearwater, FL) with a small tree (overgrown weed?) that I'm not familiar with. The foliage reminds me of an aspen, and leaves are multiple sets of pairs that fold up at times. The flowers are a lovely bright yellow orchid-type bloom (pardon my ignorance, all you orchid enthusiasts!). I'm great with animals, but have so much to learn about plants. My dad grew rare species of orchids and camellias and bamboo and many other exotics - he had an extraordinary green thumb! So many things I would like to ask him, but he's gone now. If I'm lucky, he passed a little of his talent on to me genetically... but talent won't go far without a little bit of knowledge.

I'm so happy to have discovered Dave's Garden - it seems there are lots of friendly and knowledgeable people here! If anyone has experience with this tree, I'd be grateful. I will try to post more pictures soon that show more of the structure and foliage, but for now, here's a picture of a blossom.

Cheers!
Dana

It is a type of Cassia, or Senna.

Thank you. Looks like maybe Cassia Bicapsularis. Researching it no... looks like an invasive species from what I've read so far. Thanks for the help!

Dana, your plant in question indeed looks to be Senna bicapsularis, commonly called "Christmas Senna":

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1328/

http://www.floridata.com/ref/s/senn_pen.cfm

I too have read that it is invasive in some areas. It's listed as a category 1 invasive species here in Florida. I'm on the east coast in Daytona Beach and have had one in my backyard for a few years now but have not found it to be invasive at all.

It is invasive in many areas, here it's rated a high risk weed. But if you're in a colder climate it may not be so much of a problem. Check with your local authorities. They can grow to 3.5 metres tall.

Hi Lin! We meet again! So, it looks like Senna and Cassia are synonymous, and it definitely appears to be a bicapsularis. Does not appear to be invasive here either - when we moved in, there were two - but one was growing up into the power lines and my husband trimmed it down too far - or maybe too soon after a frost... anyway, we now have just one - very scraggly looking sprawling thing near our front door. I went to a restaurant recently that had the same plant shaped into a beautiful tree. So, I have two goals: 1) save our scraggly thing by the front door and make it pretty... 2) take cuttings from it and propagate them as small container trees or even just space the cuttings along the fence in the back yard. From the little bit I've read, this thing grows quite well on its own, but I am really new to all propagation techniques. All ideas, suggestions & info welcome!
Dana

Hi breeze! Didn't see your reply till after I posted mine. Yes, I would say both of the plants when we moved in were about 3 or even 4 meters tall, though not well-shaped. My neighbor said the previous owner just stuck some twigs in the ground and they took off. I think it's a lovely tree and it seems to keep its foliage year-round in this climate, which would make it a nice privacy shield in the back yard, which gets mostly full sun. We live on a creek with lots of wonderful wildlife. We have a 7-ft green wire fence (perfect for vines). The dilemma is that we want to be able to SEE the wildlife, but not the across-the-creek neighbors. So, the perfect plant for the back would keep its foliage in the winter and have blooms year round ... I'm not asking for much, am I? ;>

As long as it's not taking off invasively, it shouldn't be a worry. We have 2 other Senna here which are weeds as well, S, occidentalis and S. obtusifolia. The latter I have at my place but very little of it. The other I don't have. It can be toxic to stock although the seeds have been used as a coffee substitute. Hence its 2 common names, Arsenic Bush and Coffee Senna.

What you should do is tell your neighbours over the creek that, out of the goodness of your heart, you'll do their landscaping for them and then plant a screen on their side of the creek. That way you'll get your privacy shield and keep your creek and wildlife views. ;O)

That is a GREAT idea! I'm going to try it :>