Need ID!

Hello everyone!! I've missed you all!! I'm so out-of-the-loop and know I've missed out on a ton of good info. Feel free to update me on anything I should know! I've been SO BUSY with my oldest son having some major jaw surgery and my younger son battling a horrid ear infection and swimmer's ear! It was not the perfect timing for BST's to not have enough fennel! lol

ANYWAYS...what I need to know is what is this?! It's on my small Cassia alata, that I had hoped would be HUGE by now since I overwintered it, but it's not. If it is a Sulphur of any form I'm going to have to run to a nursery to buy more food. It's lucky that I have really been wanting Sulphur cat and just happened to crawl back there and look at the plant.

Paige,
My books only show Florida Cats. Sorry!

Adrienne

That's ok, we have a lot of the same ones. Did you have pics of cats? See any Sulphur's that look like this? I know I've seen this fellow's pic somewhere but can't place him as a Sulphur yet.

Am not an expert but that looks like some type of moth caterpillar...or a variety of army worm??? Got any other photos to share...maybe some close up ones of the head and butt?

~ Cat

Welcome back Paige!! I hope your sons are getting better.

I have looked high and low for an id on that cat/worm and haven't found it yet, still looking.

Paige,
It's not any Sulpher in my Fl books. Sorry! :(

Adrienne

Darn, I was hoping it wasn't going to be an 'ole moth cat eating my valuable Cassia, but after looking thru pics I knew it wasn't what I wanted. Oh well...I'll take him out to some other plant instead.

Thanks Roxanne! I'm hoping for a full night's sleep tonight and I'll be a happy camper...or gardener! I'm ready to get back in the conversations!

Maybe this guy, but not sure....the Striped Garden Caterpillar.

http://davesgarden.com/bf/go/1153/

Hi Paige! GTSY!
So far with what I have, the closest to him is a Yellow-striped Armyworm.. The Bugguide's pic isn't that great, am going by the pic in Caterpillars of North America book.

I will look deeper just to see if it can be anything else..

Deb

Woohoo! Dug that baby Cassia up, potted it, kept it inside, nearly killed it from not poking out the drain holes, nursed it back to life, and I get an Army worm. :( lol

Paige - Is this your only Cassia? Did you ever get any of the Privet Cassia seeds I sent you to sprout?

Hmmm...no Privets, but right at this moment I have no idea if I tried them or not. I do have 2 of the Cassias that I thought were bicapusularis and they ended up to be...something else. lol I really should learn to write in one of the many Garden Diaries I have! (but I forget..lol)

Frostweed actually ID'd mine, by accident, in another thread a month or so ago. They are shrub-like, not like the C. alata which is like a tree. They are very small and ssslllooowwww growing. I'll take a pic of them tomorrow and try to find the name.

Ya need some more "Privet" seeds, Paige? I've got plenty!!! LMK.

Here's a photo of some Cassia that are more low-growing and bush-like. Anyone know what kind of Cassia they are? So far no blooms, no cats, and no seed pods. But they do seem to be growing and bushing out just fine. Maybe they are getting used to their new home in the Bush Bed. I have several host plants in that bed along with a Crepe Myrtle Bush. (For color of course! lol)



This message was edited Jun 7, 2007 8:47 AM

Here's a photo of the bush. It's growing very nicely!

Hey Becky,
That rounded leaf looks a whole lot like C. alata. How big do the leaves get? (Alata leaves get at least 10" toward the tip of the stems.) In any case I would like some seeds for that one in your pic if you have some of those.

:-D

Deb - These 2 bushes are young plants. So far the individual leaves are about 2" long. Maybe they get longer as the plant matures. I don't know. I will definitely share some seeds whenever they bloom and produce seed pods. I am waiting to see if any Sulpher Butterflies use it as a host plant. I am sure they will, but want to make sure. I really like the Cassias! All cultivars of it! They are such delicate looking with those gorgeous yellow blooms! Who wouldn't like them!! Are they annuals in your area? My Privet is on it's second year in the pot. So I am thinking that they are perennials here.

Ok...here is a pic of my little Senna corymbosa (thank you Josephine!) and a link to it's pic in the files.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/88999/
I just saw too that the title says this plant is at the Botanic Gardens, so this is the plant that I got my seeds from!

Here's the thread where we discussed several Cassia/Senna's: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/715209/

Becky, I love the one in your pics! But you don't know which ones they are? Are we ever going to figure all these out? lol I think we've gone over it several times and still don't know what they all are. I sure wish they grew faster tho!

This message was edited Jun 7, 2007 10:54 AM

Here's my baby C. alata. It will be a huge tree in a few months.

Here is a picture of my cassia tree. I don't know, but maybe it is called Golden Senna or Desert Cassia - Senna polyphylla. It produced seed pods recently and I saved a few. Does anyone want them? A lot of sulphur butterflies come to the tree throughout the year and I often find caterpillars. It is growing at a 45 degree angle thanks to Wilma and Katrina and a root system that may be less than perfect, but I have accepted its imperfections!

Here is another photo of it..

To get even more confused .... C. Alata is listed as "Wild Cassia, Wild Senna
Senna hebecarpa" in the Plant Files. Any one (like me) searching for "C. Alata" will not be able to find it. I had to go to Google and ask for C. Alata, and then come back to DG to look it up.

Carla

I would love seeds.. I have bunches of stuff on the swaps/trades/giveaway forum and in my plant files if you want something in return.

OK Ladies!

Here's a great site that has all the names and photos! YeeHaw!


http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Fabaceae/Cassia.html

Snuzer...Can you take a picture of 1 small branch? Maybe in the early evening? The shots that you posted are too sunny! Darn that FL sun! :)

PS C alata can be really invasive in Florida.....

This message was edited Jun 7, 2007 5:22 PM

Good grief! I haven't looked thru it but that list is huge! No wonder we can't figure them out! I gave up trying to keep up with Salvia names too.

Good grief, indeed! I don't even find 'Senna hebecarpa' on that list.

Okay, Paige, please stop my head from spinning -- exactly what is your C. Alata? If I look for it on Plant Files, what name do I search for?

Carla

Paige,The cat looks close to a Orange-barred Sulfur (green-yellow with a black lateral stripe and numerous black points) larval host plants various woody sennas including candle plant(which looks like what the cat is on in the picture) ,Bahana Senna and Christmas Senna.

Sorry! Ahh! Stop the madness, right?

According to my Butterfly books these are the plants that are most often used in FL type landscapes. Becky- yours is C. bicapsularis

Cassia alata also called candlestick/candleplant

Cassia mexicana/chapmanii or bahama

Cassia Obtusifolia/sicklepod/coffeeweed

Cassia ligustrina/privit

Cassia bicapsularis/christmas senna

Cassia fasciculata/partridge pea

Again, sorry! I'm just trying to help! I do love this plant!

Adrienne

Carla, try this http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/371/

I just went out and took some more photos. However, it may be the Cassia bicapsularis/christmas senna that I have also. In my garden diary- backyard -there is a close up of a branch "Cassia Tree Close Up" is the title, I believe.

This message was edited Jun 7, 2007 6:13 PM

Thanks for the link -- that is very helpful, indeed.

One "nit" I have is that the Search feature isn't very intuitive. If you type in "alata" it won't find anything. Or maybe I'm not smart enough??? Anyway, thanks for clearing that up for me.

Carla

This is the underside of the leaves, taken so that the blossoms can be seen.

Here is a different blossom- topside

I believe this is a baby cassia alata. It was given to me as a seedling last fall, but as you can see, it is still small.

snuzer- You last photo doesn't look like a cassia at all. And when you said you started it as a seedling last Fall, then I REALLY don't think it is a cassia because they grow very fast! Your other two photos looks similar to my bushes. But of course, most of the cassia look similar among the different cultivars. I certainly can't tell them apart. I agree, it is kinda like the Salvia with a million varieties! Whew! Ya could spend a lifetime learning just those to family of plants! lol

Don and Paige - Here is a really good link for orange-barred sulphur caterpillars.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/3478/bgimage

I've have raised several over the past year and unless Paige's photo at the beginning of this thread is really, really underexposed (too dark), it doesn't look like a sulphur cat to me. But I have been known to be wrong ..... ;-}

Thank-you Becky! I will put the mystery plant on the plant id thread. However, I did have one blossom a long time ago that was tall and yellow..... I will see what I can find out.

Will be interresting to see what the plant you have actually is Snuzer! From the pic it reminds me of either a jas like gardenia, or a citrus. Certainly not a Cassia.. We are really getting to know how Cassias work in here, :-). One thing I love about them that they share with mimosa, is the way the leaves fold together at night. The leaves on the plant there are alternate on the branches. Cassias are even down to the tip of the branch so the leaves can fold together. Seeing the bloom makes it a lot easier to ID too, of course. :-).


:-D