Maryland Senna

Perennial  •  $6, 4-inch pot

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Height	3 to 6 ft
Spacing	2 ft
Sun Exposure	Full to Part Sun
Soil Moisture	Medium
Bloom Color	Yellow
Bloom Time	July, August
Companion Plantings	Showy Tick Trefoil, Blazing Star, Pasture Thistle
Special Attributes

Senna marilandica

Maryland Senna is a tall, attractive plant that is easy to cultivate and will tolerate many soil conditions, including clay. Maryland Senna is a host plant to multiple butterfly and moth species, including the Sleepy Orange, Orange-barred Sulphur, Cloudless Sulphur, and Silver-Spotted Skipper. The foliage and stems have an unpleasant smell when crushed and are toxic, so this plant is usually avoided by mammalian herbivores.

Bright, profuse yellow flowers top the plant beginning in July and are particularly attractive to bumblebees; other pollinators include ants and flies, which feed on the nectar. The flowers eventually give way to long (4-inch) seed pods that hang from the plant well into winter, giving it an ornamental quality. Although this plant is a member of the legume family, it does not fix nitrogen. Maryland Senna may need staking if not grown among other taller perennials.

Maryland Senna shares another common name, “Wild Senna,” with the very closely related Senna hebecarpa. Maryland Senna is distinguishable from S. hebecarpa primarily by the seed pods, which stay closed, whereas the seed pods of S. hebecarpa open when ripe, allowing the seeds to fall out.

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