Senna artemisioides (Cassia artemisioides)Silver Cassia

The Senna artemisioides, commonly known as the Silver Cassia and still widely specified as Cassia artemisioides, is a compact evergreen shrub of the Australian arid interior. Its silver-grey needle-like leaflets form a soft rounded mound, covered from late winter into spring with clear yellow cup-shaped flowers.

The combination of silver foliage, bright flower and genuine desert hardiness makes it one of the most useful mid-level shrubs in a dryland palette. It is used in medians, roundabouts, verges and mixed shrub mass planting.

Specifications

• Height1 to 2 metres
• Width1 to 2 metres
• Native toThe arid and semi-arid interior of Australia
• FoliageSilver-grey, narrow, almost needle-like leaflets held densely on fine stems; evergreen
• Growth rateFast

Conditions

• SoilRequires well-drained sandy or gravelly soils; tolerates poor and alkaline ground and dislikes wet feet
• LightFull sun
• WaterLow; strongly drought-tolerant once established and short-lived where kept wet
• ClimateThrives in arid and semi-arid regions with hot dry summers; tolerates light frost

Additional Features

• FlowersClear yellow cup-shaped flowers in profusion from late winter into spring, with scattered repeat flowering
• UsesMedian and roundabout mass planting, verges, mixed dryland shrub borders, low informal screening
• SpacingPlant 1 to 1.5 metres apart for a continuous silver mass
• Low MaintenanceTip prune after flowering to hold density; avoid cutting into old bare wood
• Pest ResistanceLargely free of pests and diseases where drainage is good
• Drought ToleranceReliably drought-tolerant on minimal irrigation once rooted
• Seasonal AppealSilver-grey foliage holds colour through summer and contrasts strongly with green mass planting
• Wildlife AttractionFlowers are worked by bees through the main flowering flush

The Silver Cassia carries both colour and flower into a dryland shrub scheme at a scale that suits medians and verges.