Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Senna occidentalis
senna café, cafecillo, bicho de café, brusca, coffe senna









A small shrub with alternate leaves and leaflets growing opposite each other. The flowers are deep yellow, and bean-like seed pods are brown when ripe.
Prefers arid lowlands (McMullen 1999).
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Magnoliophyta
Class
Magnoliopsida (= Dicotyledoneae)
Order
Fabales
Family
Fabaceae
Genus
Senna
Species
occidentalis
Taxon category: Accepted
Syn.: Cassia occidentalis fide Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew & Missouri Botanical Garden (2010)
Origin: Native
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
Distribution: The native range of this species is Tropical & Subtropical America (POWO, 2023).
- Wiggins, I.L. Porter, D.M. (1971) Flora of the Galapagos Islands Standford University Press, Stanford.
- Jaramillo, P. (1998) Distribución Espacial de la Vegetación Vascular y Dispersión de Especies Introducidas dentro del Parque Nacional Galápagos. Tesis de Doctorado en Biología, Universidad Central del Ecuador. Especialización ECOLOGIA DE POBLACIONES.
- Tropicos.org. (2017) Database of Missouri Botanical Garden. Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 06 Oct 2017 <http://www.tropicos.org
- Atkinson, R. Guézou, A. & Jaramillo, P. (2009) Siémbrame en tu jardín - Plantas nativas para jardines en Galápagos. Fundación Charles Darwin, Puerto Ayora, Galápagos, Ecuador, 151 pp.
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Missouri Botanical Garden (eds.) (2013) The Plant List, Version 1.1. Published on the Internet; http://www.theplantlist.org/ (accessed 1st January).
- Andersson, N.J. (1855) Om Galápagos Öarnes Vegetation. Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps Akademien Handl., Stockholm: 61-256.
- Stewart, A. (1911) A botanical survey of the Galápagos Islands. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 4th Series, 1: 7-288.
- Christophersen, E. (1932) A Collection of Plants from the Galápagos Islands. Nyt Mag. Naturvidenskaberne 70: 67-95.
- Itow, S. (1997) List of Plant Specimens collected in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Bulletin of the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Nagasaki University, Natural Science, 38 (1): 53-144.
- Schofield, E.K. (1971) Field Guide to Some Common Galápagos Plants. Lindblad Travel, Inc., NY: 1-42.
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2022) Plants of the world online POWO (2022): Plants of the world online. Published on the Internet; Https://powo.science.kew.org/
You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.
This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Senna occidentalis", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=502. Accessed 26 April 2025.