Volume 4 > Part 1 > Year 1984 > Page 117 > Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae > Cassia

16. Cassia bicapsularis L.wfo-0000214812

Sp. Pl.: 376. 1753; Baker in Hook.f., Fl. Br. Ind. 2: 263. 1878; de Wit, Webbia 11: 235. 1955; K.Larsen & S.S.Larsen in Fl. C.L.V. 18: 99. 1980. Fig. 29: 1–3.

Accepted Name : Senna bicapsularis (L.) Roxb.
Fl. Ind. ed. 2: 342. 1832.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Glabrous shrub up to 3 m high. Leaves with 3 pairs of leaflets, the upper pairs largest. Petioles 1–3 cm; rhachis 1–2 cmwith clavate glands between the 2 lowermost leaflets. Stipules linear-acute, caduceus, 3 mm. Leaflets obovate, ± unequal-sided, 15–30 by 10–15 mm; apex rounded, sometimes with a short mucro; base obliquely cuneate; petiolules short. Flowers in slender racemes, 5–15 cm long in the upper leaf axils. Peduncle 2–3 cm. Bracts linear–acute, 1–2 mm long, caducous; bracteoles minute, early caducous. Pedicels 2–8 mm. Receptacle 2 mm long. Sepals ovate, 8–10 mm long. Petals yellow, obovate, 12–15 mm long. Stamens 10, 2 long with filaments up to 10 mm long, anthers 7 mm long, curved, opening with apical pores and slits; 5 shorter subequal with filaments 1–2 mm long, anthers 4–7 mm opening by pores; reduced stamens 3, subsessile with very small, anthers. Ovary and style normally glabrous; stigma small. Pods inflated, cylindrical, brown, glabrous, indehiscent, 15–20 cm long; 1.5 cm diam, septate. Seeds 40–60, olive green, flattened, ovate, 8 mm across.

Thailand : Cultivated, but not common.

Distribution : Originates from S America (type from India). Sometimes cultivated elsewhere in the tropics for green manure.

Vernacular : Song klot (ทรงกลด), khi lek india (ขี้เหล็กอินเดีย)(Central).