Lindheimer’s senna in three stages

A late-summer- and autumn-blooming plant that I still found flowering around Austin in early November is Lindheimer’s senna, Senna lindheimeriana. This one in Great Hills Park on an overcast November 4th exhibited buds, a flower, and several pods simultaneously.

You can read more about this species in an article by a member of the Boerne chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas. Among other things, I learned that an alternate name for Lindheimer’s senna is puppy dog’s ears, a reference to the softness of this plant’s leaflets.

© 2015 Steven Schwartzman