Chandigarh Forests
Department of Forest & Wildlife
UT Administration
Chandigarh
Department of Forest & Wildlife
|
Division
|
Angiosperms |
|
Class
|
Dicotledons |
|
Subclass |
Polypetalae |
|
Series |
Calyciflorae |
|
Order |
Rosales |
|
Family
|
Caesalpiniaceae |
|
Genus
|
Cassia |
|
Species
|
fistula |
|
Etymology: |
Kassia, the Greek name used by Dioscorides. |
|
Botanical name:
|
Cassia fistula Linn. |
|
Local/Trade Names: |
Indian Laburnum, Amaltas |
|
Conservation status: |
Commonly found wild. |
|
Digonestic features:
|
Leaflets 4-8 pairs; flowers yellow. |
|
Description: |
A moderate-sized tree. Bark greenish-grey, smooth upto middle age. Leaves paripinnate, 23-50 cm long; leaflets 4-8 pairs, opposite, ovate-oblong, 5-13 x 4-9 cm, tip acute, base cuneate. Flowers yellow, large in lax pendant racemes. Pods cylindric, 30-50 x 3-4 cm. Seeds 40-100, compressed, 1 cm across. |
|
Phenology: |
Fls.: April – June. Frts.: Cold season. |
|
Distribution: |
Common throughout the deciduous forests of India,ascending to 1500 m in the Himalaya. Sri Lanka. |
|
Where to see it: |
Medicinal Plant Garden, Ornamental Flowering Section and Ficus Grove. |
|
Uses: |
Bark, known as Sumari, used in admixture with avaram bark for tanning. Dried fruits used as a purgative; laxative for habitual constipation. Root-bark extract found satisfactory as substitute for Cassia Beareana Liguidum in the treatment of black water fever. Wood used for house posts, ploughs, tool-handles, and wheels. |
