#colutea arborescens

[globularia-alypum]

Colutea arborescens L., Fabaceae (Leguminosae)//trees 25

10.5.2020, Platosi Vounou Chasias, Parnitha, Attika

With achillerika 🌷

Thanks for the idea to francesco 🦋

[natur-nah-dran]

fruits of the yellow bladder senna (Colutea arborescens)

[faguscarolinensis]

Colutea arborescens / Bladder Senna on the Flatirons Vista Trail in Boulder, CO

[kevinscottgardens]

27 July through 2 August 2019

This was a good week. Today is the birthday of my nephew Jeffrey and my dear friend Pin. It was also florilegium day when I take cuttings for the artists who will paint our plants for future generations to enjoy. Wednesday, we held interviews and recruited gardener for a one-year position. We also learned we won’t be getting a trainee in the autumn, which is very disappointing.

The garden is bursting with colour at the moment. Here are Tithonia rotundifolia and Echinacea tennesseensis in mid-summer.

Jess and I trimmed the British native hedge this week, on the only day it rained, of course!

The plants I’m growing, for my workshop in a fortnight, are growing in leaps and bounds. Finally, some of the Tropaeolum is germinating. I have a bit of work to do before I’ll feel comfortable and confident to deliver this.

Here’s an update from a post a few weeks ago of the Musa velutina in the tropical corridor which is doing very well this year. Look at those cute pink bananas.

The grass I sowed last weekend at home is germinating! I’m trying to fill in some patches newly exposed after my pruning...

Plant of the week

Leguminosae (Fabaceae) Colutea arborescens L.

common name(s) - common bladder senna,  bladder senna, tree colutea synonym(s) - Colutea arborea "sensu auct., p.p.”; C. arborescens subsp. arborescens; C. melanocalyx sensu auct. conservation rating - none native to - N. Africa and Europe location - Miller and Curtis bed, accession 1992-0408 leaves - pale green and made up of many pairs of slightly hairy oval-shaped leaflets, each up to about 30mm long flowers - inflorescence is a raceme of generally pea-like yellow flowers about 30mm long; fruit is an inflated bladdery pod which dries to a papery texture. It is 20mm to 30mm long, contains many seeds habit - vigorous shrub to 3m; rounded form with many branches covered in deciduous leaves habitat - open woods, roadsides, railway banks etc., often on calcareous soils pests - generally pest-free disease - generally disease-free hardiness - to -20ºC (H6) soil - poor, dry soil in exposed conditions sun - full sun; can tolerates strong winds but not maritime exposure propagation - seed (poisonous), softwood cuttings pruning - dead, damaged, diseased nomenclature - Leguminosae - refers to the fruit of these plants, which are called legumes; Fabaceae - faba - fava, the old Latin name for the broad bean, perhaps from φαγο to eat; Colutea - an ancient Greek name, κολουτεα, used by Theophrastus and Dioscorides for a tree, bladder senna; arborescens - becoming or tending to be of tree-like dimensions, arbor-essentia NB - the seed is poisonous; used in landscaping for erosion control; pollinated by bees and can fix nitrogen in soil.

References, bibliography:

Gledhill, David, (2008) “The Names of Plants”, fourth edition; Cambridge University Press; ISBN: 978-0-52168-553-5

IUCN [online] http://www.iucnredlist.org/search [2 Aug 19]

Plant List, The [online] http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/ild-8751 [2 Aug 19]

Plants for a Future [online] https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Colutea+arborescens [2 Aug 19]

Royal Horticultural Society [online] https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/30571/i-Colutea-arborescens-i/Details [2 Aug 19]

Wikipedia [online] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colutea_arborescens [2 Aug 19]

[laurabonk]

Colutea arborescens - bladder senna

A leguminous shrub with distinct, inflated seed pods. Though it shares its common name with the genus Senna they are not closely related but both were used for their laxative properties.

07-07-2016 // RUB botanical garden, alpine area

[natur-nah-dran]

Colutea arborescens

[lockbuch]

Blasenstrauch-Gehänge - raschelnder Körperschmuck/Raumschmuck Material: Blasenstrauch (Colutea arborescens), Wolle, Seide, Bienenwachs

Bladder Senna pendant - rustling body jewelry / room jewelry Material: Bladder Senna (Colutea arborescens), wool, silk, beeswax

Beatrice Oettinger > Bagenaude, last year

[lockbuch]

Blasenstrauch-Gehänge - raschelnder Körperschmuck/Raumschmuck Material: Blasenstrauch (Colutea arborescens), Wolle, Seide, Bienenwachs

Bladder Senna pendant - rustling body jewelry / room jewelry Material: Bladder Senna (Colutea arborescens), wool, silk, beeswax

> Beatrice Oettinger