''Cassia fistula'', commonly known as golden shower, purging cassia, Indian laburnum, or pudding-pipe tree,U. S. Department of Agriculture, William Saunders; Catalogue of Economic Plants in the Collection of the U. S. Department of Agriculture; Washington D. C.; June 5, 1891 is a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the family Fabaceae. The species is native to the Indian subcontinent and adjacent regions of Southeast Asia, from southern Pakistan through India and Sri Lanka to

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

and Thailand. It is a popular

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...

and is also used in herbal medicine.

Description

The golden shower tree is a medium-sized tree, growing to tall with fast growth. The leaves are

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

, long, and pinnate with three to eight pairs of leaflets, each leaflet long and broad. The flowers are produced in pendulous racemes long, each flower diameter with five yellow petals of equal size and shape. The fruit is a legume, long and broad, with a pungent odor and containing several seeds. The tree has strong and very durable wood, and has been used to construct "Ehela Kanuwa", a site at

Adam's Peak Adam's Peak is a tall conical mountain located in central Sri Lanka. It is well known for the Sri Pada ( si, ශ්‍රී පාද), i.e., "sacred footprint", a rock formation near the summit, which in Buddhist tradition is held to be ...

, Sri Lanka, which is made of ''C. fistula'' (''ahala, ehela'', or ''aehaela'', ඇහැල in Sinhala ) heartwood. The golden shower tree is not a nitrogen fixer.

Cultivation

''Cassia fistula'' is widely grown as an

in tropical and subtropical areas. It blooms in late spring/earlysummer in hot, dry weather. Flowering is profuse, with trees being covered with yellow flowers, many times with almost no leaf being seen. It grows well in dry climates. Growth for this tree is best in full sun on well-drained soil; it is relatively drought-tolerant and slightly salt-tolerant. It will tolerate light brief frost, but can get damaged if the cold persists. It can be subject to

mildew Mildew is a form of fungus. It is distinguished from its closely related counterpart, mould, largely by its colour: moulds appear in shades of black, blue, red, and green, whereas mildew is white. It appears as a thin, superficial growth consi ...

leaf spot A leaf spot is a limited, discoloured, diseased area of a leaf that is caused by fungal, bacterial or viral plant diseases, or by injuries from nematodes, insects, environmental factors, toxicity or herbicides. These discoloured spots or lesions ...

, especially during the second half of the growing season. The tree blooms better with pronounced differences between summer and winter temperatures.

Pollinators and seed dispersal

Various species of bees and butterflies are known to be pollinators of ''C. fistula'' flowers, especially

carpenter bee Carpenter bees are species in the genus ''Xylocopa'' of the subfamily Xylocopinae. The genus includes some 500 bees in 31 subgenera. The common name "carpenter bee" derives from their nesting behavior; nearly all species burrow into hard plant m ...

s (''Xylocopa'' sp.). In 1911,

Robert Scott Troup Robert Scott Troup Order of St Michael and St George, CMG Order of the Indian Empire, CIE Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (13 December 1874 – 1 October 1939) was a British forestry expert. He spent the first part of his career in Colonial Indi ...

conducted an experiment to determine how the seeds of ''C. fistula'' are dispersed. He found that

golden jackal The golden jackal (''Canis aureus''), also called common jackal, is a wolf-like canid that is native to Southeast Europe, Southwest Asia, South Asia, and regions of Southeast Asia. The golden jackal's coat varies in color from a pale creamy ...

s feed on the fruits and help in seed dispersal.

Uses

Food

In India, flowers of the golden shower tree are sometimes eaten by people. The leaves have also been used to supplement the diets of cattle, sheep, and goats fed with low-quality forages.

Medical

Ayurvedic medicine Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population rep ...

, the golden shower tree is known as ''aragvadha'', meaning "disease killer". The fruit pulp is considered a

purgative Laxatives, purgatives, or aperients are substances that loosen stools and increase bowel movements. They are used to treat and prevent constipation. Laxatives vary as to how they work and the side effects they may have. Certain stimulant, lubri ...

, and

self-medication Self-medication is a human behavior in which an individual uses a substance or any exogenous influence to self-administer treatment for physical or psychological conditions: for example headaches or fatigue. The substances most widely used in sel ...

or any use without medical supervision is strongly advised against in Ayurvedic texts. Though it has been used in

herbalism Herbal medicine (also herbalism) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern reme ...

for millennia, little research has been conducted in modern times, although it is an ingredient in some mass-produced herbal laxatives. When used as such, it is known as "cassia pods". In India, a cathartic made from the pulp is sometimes added to tobacco. A paste of the flowers is used as an ointment for pimples.

Culture

''Cassia fistula'' is both the

national tree This is a list of national trees, most official, but some unofficial. National trees See also * National emblem * Floral emblem * List of U.S. State and territory trees References {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of National Trees N Trees In ...

and national flower of Thailand – in Thai ''ratchaphruek'' (Thai: ราชพฤกษ์) and the blossoms commonly referred to as ''dok khun'' (Thai: ดอกคูน). Its yellow flowers symbolize Thai royalty. A 2006–2007 flower festival, the

Royal Flora Ratchaphruek The Royal Flora Ratchaphruek was an international horticultural exposition held 1 November 2006 to 31 January 2007 in the Thai city Chiang Mai of Chiang Mai Province that drew 3,781,624 visitors. Recognised by the Bureau International des Expo ...

, was named after the tree. ''Cassia fistula'' is also featured on a 2003 joint

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

-Thai design for a 48- cent stamp, part of a series featuring

national emblem A national emblem is an emblem or seal that is reserved for use by a nation state or multi-national state as a symbol of that nation. Many nations have a seal or emblem in addition to a national flag A national flag is a flag that represents ...

s. The Indian laburnum is the state flower of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. The flowers are of ritual importance in the

Vishu Vishu (Malayalam: വിഷു), the traditional Malayali New Year, is a Hindu festival celebrated in the Indian state of Kerala, Tulu Nadu region of Karnataka, and Mahe district. The festival marks the first day of Medam, the first month of ...

festival of Kerala. The tree has been depicted on a 20- rupee stamp. The tree is frequently cultivated in Buddhist temples in Sri Lanka where the Sinhala name is ''Ehela'', ඇහැල. In Laos, its blooming flowers known locally as ''dok khoun'' are associated with the Lao New Year. People use the flowers as offerings at the temple and also hang them in their homes for the New Year in belief that the flowers will bring happiness and good luck to the households. The laburnum is the school tree of

National Taiwan Normal University National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU; ), or ''Shīdà'' is an institution of higher education and normal school operating out of three campuses in Taipei, Taiwan. NTNU is the leading research institute in such disciplines as Education and ...

, thought to be because of the seed pods' similarity to the whips used by teachers in times past.

Gallery

File:Amaltas tree in Delhi,India.jpg, Amaltas Tree in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

File:Golden shower full bloom.jpg, Tree at full bloom File:Cassia fistula-flower-detail.jpg, Flower detail File:Cassia.jpg, Flower in

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which a ...

, India File:Golden Shower Seeds.jpg, Seeds File:Amaltas (Cassia fistula) leaves in Hyderabad, AP W 289.jpg, Leaves in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 3 ...

, India File:Cassia fistula MHNT.BOT.2007.26.54.jpg, Fruit File:Tree Bark of Cassia fistula.jpg, Bark in Hong Kong

References

External links

* * (2008)
Kerala Symbols
{{Taxonbar, from=Q161117

fistula A fistula (plural: fistulas or fistulae ; from Latin ''fistula'', "tube, pipe") in anatomy is an abnormal connection between two hollow spaces (technically, two epithelialized surfaces), such as blood vessels, intestines, or other hollow or ...

Flora of tropical Asia Medicinal plants of Asia National symbols of Thailand Plants used in Ayurveda Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Trees in Buddhism