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Botanical Family · Fabales

Caesalpiniaceae

Senna family

93 speciesOrder Fabales8+ well-known plants

Often treated as a subfamily of Fabaceae, these are primarily tropical trees and shrubs with distinctively irregular but less markedly butterfly-shaped flowers than true legumes. Includes ornamental trees like Cassia, Bauhinia, and Delonix (Gulmohar).

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Representative CAESALPINIACEAE specimen
Representative specimen · Caesalpiniaceae
Key pattern

Pinnate or bipinnate leaves on trees and shrubs; slightly irregular flowers with five mostly separate petals and stamens that stay free rather than fusing into a tube, ripening into a flattened pod.

Many species store tannins and anthraquinones in bark and pods, historically used as laxatives (senna) and dyes; several are prized as canopy or avenue trees for their showy racemes.

Identify the species

Which Caesalpiniaceae species is this?

Answer what you can see and narrow it down to a single Caesalpiniaceae species.

Click a node to trace its path · pinch or scroll to zoom · drag to pan
Leaf TypeIs the leaf a single blade, or divided into leaflets?
Bilobed (two leaflets, often butterfly-shaped)
Bipinnately compound
Bipinnately compound (doubly divided, fern-like)
Pinnately compound
Pinnately compound (leaflets in rows along a stalk)
Simple
Trifoliate (three leaflets)
HabitWhat is the plant's growth habit?
Climbing vine
Shrub
Tree
Flower ColorWhat color are the flowers?
Orange
White
Flower ColorWhat color are the flowers?
White
Yellow
Flower ColorWhat color are the flowers?
Pink
White
Yellow
ThornsDoes the plant have thorns or spines?
No thorns
Thorny
ThornsDoes the plant have thorns or spines?
No thorns
Slightly thorny
Thorny
Pod MarkAnything distinctive about the seed pods?
Curved/coiled pod
Winged pod, copper-red when young
Flower ColorWhat color are the flowers?
Orange
White
Yellow
HabitWhat is the plant's growth habit?
Climbing vine
Tree
ThornsDoes the plant have thorns or spines?
Thorny
Thorny, recurved prickles
Flower ColorWhat color are the flowers?
Orange
Red
White
Yellow
ThornsDoes the plant have thorns or spines?
No thorns
Thorny
Flower ColorWhat color are the flowers?
Orange
Pink
Red
Yellow
HabitWhat is the plant's growth habit?
Shrub
Tree
Pod MarkAnything distinctive about the seed pods?
Curved brown pod with sticky pulp
Not sure / other
Very long cylindrical pod
Winged pod
Flower ColorWhat color are the flowers?
Orange
Pink
Red
White
Yellow
Pod MarkAnything distinctive about the seed pods?
Hard woody pod
Not sure / other
Wrinkled pod
HabitWhat is the plant's growth habit?
Herb
Shrub
Tree

How to recognise the Caesalpiniaceae family

  • 01

    Slightly irregular flowers (not typical papilionoid)

  • 02

    Usually pinnate or bipinnate leaves

  • 03

    Pod fruit; often large canopy trees

Typical leaf characters

Characters typical of the family — individual species can vary.

Typical flower & fruit

Typical of the family — flowering plants only; species can vary.

Notable members

Indian Ash, Red Or Pink Cedar, Single TreeAcrocarpus fraxinifoliusPride Of Burma, Orchid Tree, Noble Amherstia, Tree Of HeavenAmherstia nobilisWhite 'Orchid' Tree, Dwarf White Bauhinia, Butterfly-Tree, Hawaiian Orchid Tree, Hong Kong Orchid Tree, Purple Camel's Foot, White Bauhinia, Kaa-Long, Snowy OrchidBauhinia acuminataBauhiniaBauhinia blakeanaBrazilian Orchid TreeBauhinia forficataPride Of The CapeBauhinia galpiniiWhite BauhiniaBauhinia hookeriMalabar Mountain Ebony, Malabar Bauhinia, Mountain EbonyBauhinia malabarica

All 93 species in CAESALPINIACEAE

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