Cassia javanica subsp. javanica

Primary tabs

Cassia javanica subsp. javanica

Description

Deciduous tree up to 15 m high; young specimens with the trunk armed with stumps of branches; young branches almost glabrous. Leaves with 5-15 pairs of leaflets; stipules falcate to pointed, elliptic, attached in the middle; petiole nearly glabrous, 1.5-4 cm; rachis 20-30 cm. Sepals ovate-acute, dark red to reddish brown, 7-10 mm. Petals first pink, later dark red, finally pale, obovate, 25-35 by 7-8 mm, claw 3 mm long. Stamens 10; 3 long, recurved, with a spherical enlargement near the middle of the 20 mm long filament, anthers 4 mm, opening by apical and basal slits; 4 shorter ones, c. 10 mm long, with anthers opening by basal pores; 3 reduced stamens c. 10 mm long, with minute anthers. Ovary pubescent, slender, recurved on a thin stipe; stigma indistinct. Seeds 50-75, glossy corky, brown, flat, more or less orbicular, embedded in a flat disc.

Distribution

Asia-Tropical: Jawa (Jawa present), Malesian area present, tropical Asia present
Widespread in the Malesian area, wild and cultivated. It was described on a specimen from Java. Now widely cultivated all over tropical Asia. According to Irwin & Barneby (l.c.) this subspecies has not been introduced to the American tropics.

Uses

Cultivated in gardens and as wayside tree; also used for mixed reafforesta- tions. The timber, which is very hard, is used for various purposes. Locally also used as a medicinal plant. See ;

Citation

K. & S.S. Larsen 1984: p. 107. – In: Fl. Thailand: f. 26/7.