Volume 4 > Part 1 > Year 1984 > Page 112 > Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae > Cassia

10. Cassia garrettiana Craibwfo-0000186535

Kew Bull. 1912: 151; Gagnep. in Fl. Gen. I.-C. 2: 169. 1913, f. 15; Craib in Fl. Siam. En. 2: 510. 1928; de Wit, Webbia 11: 248. 1955; K.Larsen & S.S.Larsen in Fl. C.L.V. 18: 91. 1980. Fig. 27: 6–7. Plate IV, 2.

Accepted Name : Senna garrettiana (Craib) H.S. Irwin & Barneby
Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 35(1): 98. 1982.

Description : Tree up to 10 m high; branches puberulous, later glabrous. Leaves with 6–9 pairs of leaflets. Petioles 4–5 cm long; rhachis 10–20 cm long. Stipules early caduceus (not seen). Leaflets lanceolate to broadly ovate, acuminate with rounded base, 5–9 by 2–5 cm, glabrous or nearly so; petiolules 4–6 mm. Inflorescences terminal, leafy, compound racemes, 9–20 cm long, many-flowered; axis densely yellowish velutinous. Pedicels 3 cm, pubescent. Bracts ovate, acute, caducous, 4 mm long; bracteoles minute. Sepals unequal, 2 outer smaller, ca 5 mm long, 3 inner twice as long, broadly elliptic, puberulous outside. Petals yellow, obovate, 15–18 mm long, with a 4 mm long claw. Stamens 10, 2 largest with flattened filaments, 7 mm long, anthers 7–9 mm long curved, opening by apical pores; 5 shorter with smaller anthers; reduced stamens 3, ca 2 mm long. Ovary and style glabrous or puberulous along the margin; stigma indistinct. Pods flat, glabrous, thin-valved, 15–22 by 2–4 cm, often twisted. Seeds ca 20, 9 by 5 mm, brownish.

Thailand : Common in Northern Thailand down to the plain of Bangkok (Si Racha – type: Kerr 2067 -K); not wild in the Peninsular. Often planted as away side tree.

Distribution : Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam.

Ecology : Deciduous forests, not collected above 500 m alt.

Vernacular : Khi lek khan Chang (ขี้เหล็กคันชั่ง), khilek pa (ขี้เหล็กป่า), khi lek phae (ขี้เหล็กแพะ)(Northern); samae san (แสมสาร)(Central); khi lek khok (ขี้เหล็กโคก)(Northeastern); ka-bat (กะบัด), ka-ra-bat (การะบัด)(Chaobon-Eastern); khi lek san (ขี้เหล็กสาร)(Eastern, Southeastern); ngai-san (ไงซาน)(Khmer-Eastern).

Uses: Heartwood used as wooden nails in beat building. Young leaves and flowers edible.