Desert Senna - Cassia Covesii

There is some discrepancy with this species.

The original pods I collected were from a tree labeled "Desert Senna" from a local Lowe's (supplied by Morningstar Nurseries, photo here) in Brandon (Tampa), FL. The blooms on this photo are HUGE compared to the small leaves - they are like delicate, ornamental style. I've never seen it bloom in person, but this pic makes it seem worthwhile!

A search on the internet provides a link to http://www.plantsofthesouthwest.com where they say a Desert Senna is "A shrubby perennial to 2 ft. Silver foliage with bright yellow, conspicuously veined, 2" flowers."

Well, thats not what was a Lowes. I saw a healthy 6ft tree-like Green Foliage beast (I'll get a photo, was planning to do that anyway), very Oriental in its delicate appearance. The tag on the tree from the nursery read: Slow Grower, to 15ft, Blooms continually, full sun, etc.

I'll investigate this with both providers to get to the "root" of the problem.

Seedling Picture Series

I started these in a 6 inch round tray you would place under a pot. Filled with Seed Starter and buried seeds. Did not SOAK the seeds 1st. I got the seeds on July 2. Potted them over the weekend in this saucer. Within ONE week, I got a sprout like the 1st image. The guy at the nursery was SO surprised that it was so soon, that he implied it was from foreign matter in the mix so I played with the sprout and killed it - it didn't look like a Cassia to me... oh well..........

Nothing happened for the next two weeks...

Aug 10 night	Aug 11	Aug 14
Aug 14                 Aug 17        Aug 19 (hey, where did the 2nd sprout come from???)		Aug 16
Aug 21	Aug 23	Aug 16 - time for bed
Nov 4 - big pot - with Cassia Alata sprouts	Nov 4 - 3inch pot	Aug 21
Nov 4 - nighttime	Nov 4 - nighttime	oops! dead! after 1 long weekend of no water
As of Nov 4, 99, I have 4 good specimens growing, 2 in a big pot (with the pen) and the 3-inch pot which has two growing - 1 under the other.

So I played with the seed mix some more. I decided to go seed hunting, which is not very easy in seed mix. I eventually found 3 seeds in about half of the saucer so I stopped, scored the outside of the terra-cotta and placed the seeds back in there. This way, when a sprout comes up aligned with my mark, I'll know if its the seed or a weed.

Lo and behold, 10 days or so later, up came a sprout right on my mark... unfortunately it looked like the one I killed several weeks before. NEVER underestimate a seed's desire for life!

I moved that 1st sprout to its own little pot (where another sprout came up as well - must have move a seed with it) and 3 more (at least) came up in the saucer.

It does seem to be a slow grower. I haven't fertilized this AT ALL, so perhaps that could speed it up a bit.