Eden Apothecary · Herb Profile
Senna alexandrina
Pronounced Senna: SEN-uh · Senna alexandrina: SEN-uh a-lek-zan-DREE-nuh
Cold, dry, and forcefully downward-draining: a stimulant purgative that whips the sluggish, heat-bound bowel into evacuation, depleting and habit-forming if leaned upon.
Contraindicated in pregnancy (EMA), because of experimental data concerning a genotoxic risk of several anthranoids. AHPA Botanical Safety Handbook Class 2b (not verified against AHPA) (not to be used during pregnancy except under qualified supervision); stimulant laxatives are second-line to bulk-forming agents. Sources: EMA EU herbal monograph on Senna alexandrina folium, Rev. 1; AHPA Botanical Safety Handbook, 2nd ed.; WHO Monographs on Selected Medicinal Plants, Vol. 1 (Folium Sennae).
Sources disagree on breastfeeding: the EMA advises against senna while breastfeeding; NIH LactMed considers occasional use acceptable because little reaches the milk. Avoid unless a practitioner advises it. Sources: NIH LactMed; EMA EU herbal monograph on Senna alexandrina folium, Rev. 1; AHPA Botanical Safety Handbook, 2nd ed. (Class 2c (not verified against AHPA)).
Contraindicated in children under 12 years (EMA). Sources: EMA EU herbal monograph on Senna alexandrina folium, Rev. 1; ESCOP Monographs, 2nd ed.; German Commission E (Sennae folium).
Expect cramping and griping; combine with a carminative (ginger, fennel) and start with the lowest dose. Not for long-term use (not more than 1 week, EMA): risk of laxative dependence, melanosis coli, and fluid or electrolyte depletion. Harmless reddish-brown urine discoloration may occur.
Intestinal obstruction or ileus, acute inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis), appendicitis, undiagnosed abdominal pain, and severe dehydration with electrolyte depletion.
Not of conservation concern. Grown as a commodity field crop (Alexandrian senna in Sudan and Egypt; Tinnevelly senna in Tamil Nadu, India). Choose cultivated, sustainably harvested leaf and pod; not listed by United Plant Savers.
Not in the canonical biblical texts and unknown to the classical Greeks and Romans; introduced to Western materia medica by Arab physicians (Mesue and Serapion, c. 9th century). Alexandrian senna is native to the Nile valley and Arabia; Tinnevelly senna is cultivated in India.
The same herb can calm one person and wire another. Our free assessment reads your pattern across temperature, moisture and tone, then matches herbs to it.
Teaching children at home? Eden's Table builds a full herbalism curriculum around plants like this one.
