CASSIA. Senna. Widespread. This is an enormous group of trees and shrubs, heavily concentrated in the tropics and subtropics of several continents. Therein lies the problem for central and northern Californians: In spite of their often considerable beauty, most of them are simply too tender for cultivation outdoors here. Fortunately, there are some notable exceptions. The cassias have been transferred in and out of the pea family at various times by taxonomists; they are currently “in”. To make matters worse, many have been assigned by some taxonomists to another genus, Senna. I am not certain of the current consensus on this question. Most species, whatever their form, have the familiar, divided pea-like or acacia-like leaves and typical, flattened to cylindrical legume-style seed pods. However, in place of the wings and banner of the peas, their flowers have five, often slightly unequal petals in a wheel-like arrangement and conspicuous, frequently showy stamens. Yellow and gold are the predominant shades, but some species (not the following) have white to deep pink flowers. Apart from questions of hardiness, most cassias are easy to grow. They tolerate hard pruning, which can be useful in controlling the more rampant growers. They thrive in sun or light shade and many soils, with moderate watering (though some are quite drought tolerant).

australis. Australia. This is typically a shrub of 6-8', round to spreading in form. This particular, unnamed cultivar is decidedly on the spreading side, and smaller and slower-growing than most. It has few-parted, bright green leaves, 2-3" long and bears small clusters of deep gold 1" blossoms most of the year. It has long been one of my favorite smaller shrubs. Hardy to 20^o F, or a little less.