Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_senna_alata
Candle Bush
Senna alata
Open this record in the interactive Atlas
About Candle Bush
A large shrub with pinnate leaves of usually seven to fourteen pairs of broad oblong-to-obovate leaflets, the outer pairs largest. Upright racemes carry bright-yellow flowers and orange-to-yellow petaloid bracts. Ascending linear pods have four sharp wings. Flattened rhomboid seeds are tan to dark brown. Established wild occurrence warrants observations of occupied cover, reproductive plants and new recruits. These measurements can test persistence and spread. The reviewed accounts do not quantify an island-wide effect on Kauaʻi native vegetation.
Kauaʻi evidence
Generated media is not occurrence evidence. Proposed monitoring endpoints are not reported observations, measured effects or causal findings.
Names and classification
- Scientific name
- Senna alata
- Common names
- candle bush
- Other names
- Senna alata · candle bush
- Record type
- Species
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- Recorded on Kauaʻi
- Origin
- Introduced
- Conservation status
- Not yet assessed
- Evidence date
- 2026-10-07
- Evidence limits
- Island-level public occurrence only. The distinctly four-winged pods and large leaflets separate this species from Senna didymobotrya. Petiolar nectaries are absent.
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- Not yet assessed
- Food and resource needs
- Not yet assessed
- Reproduction
- Not yet assessed
- Shelter
- Not yet assessed
- Growth form
- Shrub or subshrub; Shrubs or small trees 2-5 m tall.
Threats and conservation
- Monitoring
- Occupied area and vegetation cover; Mature plants and new recruits; Reproductive plants and fruiting frequency. Proposed monitoring endpoints are not reported observations, measured effects or causal findings.
- Data gaps
- Current island extent and population trend · Measured local ecological effects
Process and seasonal context
- Seasonal timing
- Not yet assessed
- Seasonal description
- A large shrub with pinnate leaves of usually seven to fourteen pairs of broad oblong-to-obovate leaflets, the outer pairs largest. Upright racemes carry bright-yellow flowers and orange-to-yellow petaloid bracts. Ascending linear pods have four sharp wings. Flattened rhomboid seeds are tan to dark brown. Established wild occurrence warrants observations of occupied cover, reproductive plants and new recruits. These measurements can test persistence and spread. The reviewed accounts do not quantify an island-wide effect on Kauaʻi native vegetation.