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senna

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.04 sec.
senna, any plant of the genus Sennia (formerly placed in Cassia), leguminous herbs, shrubs, and trees of the family Leguminosae (pulse pulse, in botany, common name for members of the Fabaceae (Leguminosae), a large plant family, called also the pea, or legume, family. Numbering about 650 genera and 17,000 species, the family is third largest, after the asters and the orchids.
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 family), most common in warm regions. Some species are cultivated for ornament, but sennas are best known as medicinal plants. The dried leaves are used as a purgative and are chiefly obtained from S. acutifolia (Alexandria senna) and S. angustifolia (Indian senna); both trees are cultivated especially in S India. The wild senna (S. marylandica), a perennial of the E United States, has been similarly used. Golden shower (S. fistula) of India yields canafistula, a purgative extracted from the fruit pulp. The young shoots of several wild species are used for food and the seeds for a coffee substitute. S. nictitans, a North American herb, is sometimes called wild sensitive plant because its leaves respond to touch as do those of the true sensitive plant, a mimosa. Senna is classified in the division Magnoliophyta Magnoliophyta (măg'nōlēŏf`ətə)
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, class Magnoliopsida, order Rosales, family Leguminosae.

senna

Enlarge picture
Senna (Cassia didymobotrya).
(credit: Gerald Cubitt)
Any of several plants, especially of the genus Cassia, in the pea family (see legume), mostly of subtropical and tropical regions. Many are used medicinally; some yield tanbark used in preparing leather. Some sennas are among the showiest flowering trees. In the eastern U.S., wild sennas (C. hebecarpa and C. marilandica) grow up to 4 ft (1.25 m) high and have showy spikes of yellow flowers. Some species are Old World shrubs or small trees.


senna
1. any of various tropical plants of the leguminous genus Cassia, esp C. angustifolia (Arabian senna) and C. acutifolia (Alexandrian senna), having typically yellow flowers and long pods
2. senna leaf the dried leaflets of any of these plants, used as a cathartic and laxative

Senna
Ayrton . 1960--94, Brazilian racing driver: world champion (1988, 1990, 1991)


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He is a very nice boy, my Lord, but he is not acquainted with drugs; and I know that the prevailing impression on his mind is, that Epsom salts means oxalic acid; and syrup of senna, laudanum.
 
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