Easter cassia

Senna pendula, commonly known as Easter cassia or winter senna, is a sprawling to erect shrub or small tree in the family Fabaceae (subfamily Caesalpinioideae) native to tropical and subtropical South America, particularly Brazil and adjacent regions. It typically grows 2-5 m tall, with arching, often weeping branches and pinnate leaves bearing three to six pairs of asymmetric, oblong-elliptic leaflets and a small gland between the lowest pair. From late summer through autumn it produces abundant axillary and terminal panicles of showy, bright yellow flowers with five spreading petals and asymmetrically arranged stamens, giving the plant a striking floral display at Easter in the southern hemisphere. The slender, slightly curved pods are 7-15 cm long, terete, and contain many flattened, dark brown seeds. Now widely naturalised in Australia, southern Africa and Pacific islands, it is considered a significant environmental weed.