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Senna aciphylla; photograph Guy Taseski, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF CC BYGuy Taseski, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF

Senna aciphylla (Benth. ex A.Gray) Randell

Sprawling Cassia

Fabaceae · New South Wales, Queensland +1

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Senna aciphylla, photograph Guy Taseski, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIFSenna aciphylla, photograph Guy Taseski, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIFSenna aciphylla, photograph David Bray, CC BY, via GBIFSenna aciphylla, photograph Thomas Mesaglio, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIFSenna aciphylla, photograph Thomas Mesaglio, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIFSenna aciphylla, photograph Thomas Mesaglio, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF 14 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
-0.8°C
Record low -3.8 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
28°C
Jan at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
735mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
16–44DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Rain spread: 70% of the median year's rain takes 8 months, so no short rainy season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Senna aciphylla, commonly known as sprawling senna or Australian senna, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a sprawling shrub with pinnate leaves with eight to twelve pairs of linear to narrowly elliptic leaflets, and yellow flowers in pairs or groups of three.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Senna aciphylla", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads no short rainy season: 70% of the median year's rain (537 mm of 727 mm) takes 8 months, October to March and June to July. Mean temperature moves 13.7 °C between the warmest and coldest month. Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere; shifted six months for a northern-hemisphere collection: December to January and April to September.

Rain

727 mm in the median year at the habitat, 537 mm of it October to March and June to July. Wettest month December at 83 mm, driest months (2 at 47 mm). Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 634 mm to 934 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 735 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 727 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, southern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 16 to 44 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 13, the highest 90th-percentile month 47).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is -0.8 °C, the absolute minimum -3.8 °C, 378 frost nights in 44 years, 8.6 a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 38.0 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 4.5 °C in July (across the grid cells of the range 1.5 °C to 9.8 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 27.9 °C in January (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: -0.8 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 56 to 61% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected +153 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, southern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Senna aciphylla through the yearWarmest month January, mean daily high 28 °C; coldest month July, mean nightly low 4.5 °C; 727 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, southern hemisphere.-10°0°10°20°30°40°frost38.0° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER-3.8° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter0255075100125150mm rainDLI 16–44RH 56–61%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 298 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C28 / 25–3227 / 24–3125 / 22–2921 / 18–2618 / 14–2314 / 11–2014 / 10–2015 / 11–2219 / 15–2522 / 18–2824 / 21–2927 / 23–31
Night °C17 / 13–2117 / 13–2115 / 11–1912 / 8–178 / 5–146 / 3–115 / 2–105 / 2–118 / 4–1311 / 7–1613 / 9–1816 / 11–20
Rain mm74 / 52–12779 / 55–14254 / 44–8647 / 39–7748 / 39–6754 / 32–7250 / 28–7047 / 25–6548 / 26–6564 / 49–7679 / 66–9783 / 62–120
DLI43 / 40–4738 / 35–4234 / 31–3726 / 23–3119 / 16–2516 / 13–2418 / 14–2524 / 20–3132 / 28–3839 / 35–4342 / 40–4444 / 42–47
RH %56 / 52–6158 / 54–6358 / 53–6259 / 53–6260 / 55–6361 / 56–6559 / 54–6457 / 52–6256 / 51–6056 / 50–5956 / 52–6056 / 51–60
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 298 grid cells holding the 416 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 2484:6606 (-34.225, 150.325). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -3.8 °C, 1st-percentile night -0.8 °C, 99th-percentile day 38.0 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 298 distinct grid cells holding 416 of the 416 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 2484:6606 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -34.00_150.625, lapse-corrected +153 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 433 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeNew South Wales, Queensland, Victoria · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker-37.017, 148.517 · in the densest population, 243 records (51% of those in range)
Kew's description“subtropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 479 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 416 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 434 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 21 km away. 4 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 63 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 2° block of the 479 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Senna aciphylla, photograph 1did not loadSenna aciphylla, photograph 2did not loadSenna aciphylla, photograph 3did not loadSenna aciphylla, photograph 4did not loadSenna aciphylla, photograph 5did not loadSenna aciphylla, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: Guy Taseski, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF (2); David Bray, CC BY, via GBIF; Thomas Mesaglio, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF (3).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Isopogon dawsonii Isopogon dawsonii Nepean Conebush Photo: CC BY, ian_mcallanAcacia linearifolia Acacia linearifolia Stringybark wattle Photo: CC BY, ian_mcallanBeyeria viscosa Beyeria viscosa Pinkwood Photo: CC0, CowirrieGlycine tabacina Glycine tabacina Glycine-pea Photo: CC BY, chiuluanBrachychiton populneus Brachychiton populneus Kurrajong Photo: CC BY, Lucas ChristofidesDianella longifolia Dianella longifolia Blue flax-lily Photo: CC BY, Josh

Other Senna 68 in the reference

Senna acclinis Senna acclinis Rainforest Cassia Photo: CC BY-SA, Greg TasneySenna alata Senna alata Emperor's candlesticks Photo: CC BY, renjus boxSenna alexandrina Senna alexandrina Alexandrian senna Photo: CC BY, Karim HaddadSenna aphylla Senna aphylla Fabaceae Photo: CC BY, Guillermo DebandiSenna armata Senna armata Desert senna Photo: CC BY, Jacob SaucierSenna arnottiana Senna arnottiana Fabaceae Photo: CC BY, Morten RossSenna artemisioides Senna artemisioides Silver senna Photo: CC BY, Michelle W. （鍾偉瑋）Senna atomaria Senna atomaria Flor de San Jose Photo: CC BY, Jose Luis Leon de la LuzSenna auriculata Senna auriculata Matara-tea Photo: CC BY, Rohit NaniwadekarSenna aymara Senna aymara Fabaceae Photo: CC BY, Thomaz Ricardo Favreto SinaniSenna bacillaris Senna bacillaris Whitebark senna Photo: CC BY, scaupSenna barclayana Senna barclayana Pepper-leaf senna Photo: CC BY-SA, Lachlan Copeland all 69 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Cassia aciphylla. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipedia

The record

Family
Fabaceae
Described by
(Benth. ex A.Gray) Randell
Native to
New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria
Wild records
479 in range · 434 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 1 record within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (1 at a herbarium; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -34.00_150.625, lapse-corrected +153 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist taxon inat.taxon not asked
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild not asked
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 25 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

Opening your plants…