Senna
A few years ago I hired someone to help with the pastures. I was informed that I should get rid of all the “Coffee Beans”. I hadn’t really noticed them until she pointed them out. They are tall, straight, nice looking weeds with long seed pods that appear in colonies by the water and scattered throughout the pasture. She said they should be cut down, thrown into the back of a truck and discarded. They were bad news and once you see the seeds, it’s even worse news. Because we have cattle grazing, I learned the seeds (and the plant) are toxic to livestock. Thus the urgency to remove this invader asap.
After some research I discovered that what I really had was Sennabeans or Drummond Sesbania and Bag-Pod Sesbania. There are quite a few varieties of Senna and although they look similar, their pods (seeds) are quite different.
They all have pods; the Senna and Bag-Pod Sesbania pods rattle. The Sennabean pods don’t have a smooth surface but are rather long, rectangularly shaped with indentions where the seeds are nestled. There may be 5 to 6 seeds contained in these pods. The Bag-Pod pods are smooth shaped and contain usually 2-3 seeds. You can also see where the seeds reside inside the pod.
I also discovered this past summer (2021) that we have Sicklepod Senna. It started popping up late summer here and there but luckily there were no major colonies. This one is shorter and closer to the ground, the leaves are rounded and the pods are thin and long. They don’t appear to rattle like the pods of Senna and Bag-Pod. I noticed small yellow flowers appeared on most of these weeds.
I noticed only one Coffee Senna (or it could be Lindheimer Senna) along the fenceline where there’s a creek. These look similar but from what I’ve read the leaves of Coffee are hairless and those of Lindheimer are hairy plus the Lindheimer may be more predominant in central Texas. Unfortunately I learned about these 2 after I snapped the photo.
Although I have a bit of fascination with Senna and seem gleeful at the sight of one popping up in the field, the goal is to be Senna free one day.
Fields of Senna - we think Sennabean - November 2020
Day of whacking Sennabeans - November 2020
This might be Coffee Senna or Lindheimer Senna?
Sicklepod Senna - September 2021
