Caesalpinia sappan

Primary tabs

Caesalpinia sappan

Description

Small tree or shrub, up to 10 m tall; branchlets usually with recurved prickles, rarely unarmed. Leaves: rachis 25-40 cm; pinnae 9-14 pairs. Stipules 3-4 mm, caducous. Inflorescences supra-axillary and terminal, paniculate, 10-40 cm long; bracts 5-12 by 2-5 mm hairy, caducous; pedicels 15-20 mm, articulated 1-2 mm below the top. Flower yellow, glabrous, often punctate. Sepals ciliate, the lower one c. 10 by 4 mm, the others c. 7 by 4 mm. Petals 9-11.5 by 6-10 mm, clawed (claw up to 5 mm long). Stamens exserted; filaments c. 15 mm; anthers c. 1.5 mm long, glabrous. Seeds ellipsoid, 15-18 by 8-11 mm, black.

Distribution

Africa present, America present, Asia-Tropical, S & SE Asia present
Origin unknown. Cultivated in S & SE Asia, Malesia, Africa, and America. Sometimes escaped from cultivation.

Uses

The wood ('sappanwood') was a major world source of red dye till the end of the 19th century. See

Citation

Verdc. 1979 – In: Manual New Guinea Leg., Lae Bot. Bull.: 27
Rudd 1991 – In: Fl. Ceylon: 52.
Whitmore 1972 – In: Tree Fl. Malaya: 246
J.E. Vidal 1980: p. 26. – In: Fl. Camb., Laos & Vietnam: pl. 2/8-14
Hattink 1974: p. 51. – In: Reinwardtia: f. 4/17
J.E. Vidal 1984: p. 65. – In: Fl. Thailand: f. 15/8-14