Roxburgh's Cassia

Cultivated as an ornamental tree; wood is also used for making naves of wheels and handles of tools.

A spherical tree, 5-10 m tall, with slender downward curving branches. Stipules falcate-reniform. Leaf 13-35 cm long, leaflets 8-20 pairs, oblong, ovate-elliptical, unequal sided, 1.5-4.5 cm long, 1-2 cm wide. Inflorescence pedunculate axillary raceme, peduncle 1-2 cm long, axis 5-9 cm long. Pedicel 1.5-2.5 cm long. Calyx hairy, sepals ovate, 4-7 mm long. Petals 10-15 mm long, oblong-obovate, hairy externally. Stamens 10, 4 long, 3 medium sized and 3 small, not swollen in the middle. Pod 20-30 cm long, c. 2 cm broad, cylindrical, glabrous.

Distribution: A native of Ceylon, common in S. India; cultivated in Karachi and possibly other parts of W. Pakistan.

Fl. Per.: May June.

Cassia roxburghii DC. Prodr. 2: 489. 1825
Cassia marginala Roxh.HoTt.Beng.3. 1814. Not Willd. 1809. Cathartocarpus marginatus G. Don, Gen. Hist. 2: 453. 1832.
A tree, 6 or 7 m. high, the twigs, petioles, rachis and inflorescence tomentose. Leaflets 10-15 pairs, oblong, oblique, retuse, mucronulate, glabrate above, tomentulose beneath, 2-3.5 cm. long; racemes axillary, shorter than the leaves; sepals 5-6 mm. long, tomentulose; petals pink or salmon, about twice as long as the sepals; anthers glabrous; legume 2-3 dm, long, about 2 cm. in diameter, cylindric, smooth, somewhat constricted between the seeds.
Type locality: Coromandel.
Distribution: Naturalized in Jamaica, at least formerly. Native of southern Asia.

Perennial, Trees, Shrubs, Woody throughout, Nodules present, Stems erect or ascending, Stems greater than 2 m tall, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs glabrous or sparsely glabrate, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Stipules inconspicuous, absent, or caducous, Stipules seti form, subulate or acicular, Stipules deciduous, Stipules free, Leaves compound, Leaves even pinnate, Leaf or leaflet margins entire, Leaflets opposite, Leaflets 10-many, Leaves hairy on one or both surfaces, Inflorescence panicles, Inflorescence terminal, Bracts conspicuously present, Bracts hairy, Bracteoles present, Flowers actinomorphic or somewhat irregular, Flowers zygomorphic, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx hairy, Petals separate, Petals red, Banner petal narrow or oblanceolate, Wing petals narrow, oblanceolate to oblong, Keel tips obtuse or rounded, not beaked, Stamens 9-10, Stamens heteromorphic, graded in size, Stamens completely free, separate, Filaments glabrous, Filaments S-shaped, Anthers opening by basal or terminal pores or slits, Style terete, Fruit a legume, Fruit unilocular, Fruit indehiscent, Fruit elongate, straight, Fruit oblong or ellipsoidal, Fruit or valves persistent on stem, Fruit coriaceous or becoming woody, Fruit exserted from calyx, Fruit glabrous or gla brate, Fruit 3-10 seeded, Seeds embedded in gummy or spongy pulp, Seeds ovoid to rounded in outline, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black.

Cassia roxburghii, the red cassia, Roxburgh's cassia or Ceylon senna, is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. The species is native to the Indian subcontinent and adjacent regions of Southeast Asia. It ranges throughout South India and Sri Lanka.

The Latin specific epithet roxburghii refers to the Scottish Botanist William Roxburgh.