Senna sophera
species of shrub seen along roadsides in tropical countries
Senna sophera is a shrub or tree in the bean family Fabaceae. It is now widespread in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, but is believed to be native to tropical America. Originally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 as Cassia sophera, it has acquired a large number of synonyms. Vernacular names include algarrobilla, baner, kasunda, kasaundi (Hindi) and kolkasunda (Bengali).
Description
Senna sophera is a shrub or small tree, glabrous, about 3 m in height. The compound leaves have 8-12 paired leaflets that are acute and tapering. It has yellow flowers in corymbose racemes.
Distribution
Senna sophera is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, but is considered by Plants of the World Online to be native to the Caribbean (Aruba, the Bahamas, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, the Leeward Islands, the Netherlands Antilles, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago and the Windward Islands); Central America (Belize and Panama); and Guyana in northern South America.
Conservation
Senna socotrana was assessed as "least concern" for the 2004 IUCN Red List, where it is said to be native only to Socotra. As of April 2023, S. socotrana was regarded as a synonym of Senna sophera, which has a very much wider distribution.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Senna sophera” is species of shrub seen along roadsides in tropical countries. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Senna, sophera and species, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “species of shrub seen along roadsides in tropical countries” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2724545. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1753, 2004 and 2023.
Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Senna sophera” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.