102 FLORA OF JAMAICA Cassia 



salmon-coloured, about 1 cm. 1. Pod 2-3 dm. 1., about 2 cm. in diam., 

 with numerous seeds. 



" The heart-wood is heavy, very hard, reddish-brown, small " (Trimen).] 



[C. fistula L. Sp. PL 377 (1753); leaflets 4-8 pairs, very 

 large, 6—14 cm. 1., ovate to oblong-elliptical, blunt to subacuminate, 

 glabrous ; anthers glabrous ; pod cylindrical, smooth. — Wright 

 Mem. 197 ; Tussac Fl. Ant. iv. t. 2 ; Descourt. Fl. Ant. ii. t. 125 ; 

 Macf. Jam. i. 337 ; Griseh. Fl. Br. W. Ind. 206 ; Benth. in Fl. 

 Bras. XV. ft. 2, 92 & Trans. Linn. Soc. xxvii. 514 ; Bentl. rf: 

 Trim. Med. PI. t. 87 ; Urb. Symh. Ant. iv. 272. C. nigra . . . 

 Alexandrina Sloane Cat. 145 & Hist. ii. 42. C. arborea &c. 

 Browne Hist. Jam. 222. Type in Herb. Hermann in Herb. 

 Mus. Brit. ; a specimen named by Linnseus is in Herb. Linn. 



Cassia-stick Tree. 



In fl. June, in fr. Jan. ; common in gardens and cultivated ground 

 at low elevations ; Barham in Herb. Sloane 1 Sloane Herb. vi. 20. 

 Browne; Wright \ Broughtonl Macfadyenl Distinl — Tropics, cultivated, 

 probably native in tropical Asia. 



A handsome tree, glabrous, low-growing to 40 or 50 ft. high. Leaves 

 3 dm. 1. or more. Baceines pendulous, lax, generally simple, sometimes 

 branched at the base, as long as the leaves or longer ; pedicels 3-6 cm. 1. 

 Calyx 6-10 mm. 1., soon falling; apex of segments rounded or obtuse. 

 Petals ovate-elliptical or obovate-elliptical, 2-2-5 cm. 1., veined, bright 

 yellow, slightly fragrant. Pod 3-6 dm. 1., l'5-2 cm. in. diam.; pulp 

 shining brownish-black in colour and sweet to the taste. 



The pulp, fresh from the pod, is agreeable, and is used as a mild 

 laxative in small doses and as a purgative in larger doses. The bark is 

 used in tanning. The heart-wood is extremely hard, and is used for posts, 

 carts, and agricultural implements.] 



II. Perfect stamens usually 7 (10 in C. ylauca), the 2 or 3 

 lowest somewhat longer than the rest ; anthers with a simple or 

 double pore at the apex, linear, curved, 6-13 mm. 1. ; the 3 

 highest stamens usually imperfect. Pod cylindrical or compressed, 

 opening at one or both margins, valves not elastic, or, more 

 rarely, not opening at all. 



2. C. viminea L. Syst. ed. 10, 1016 (1759); leaflets, 2 pairs, 

 2-7 cm. 1., obliquely ovate, ovate-lanceolate or ovate-oblong, 

 acute or subacuminate, very unequal at the base, the lower pair 

 shorter than the upper, shining on the upper surface, minutely 

 puberulous or glabrate beneath ; gland linear-cylindrical, acute, 

 between the lower pair, and also sometimes between the upper. — 

 L. Amoen. v. 397 & Sp. PI. ed. 2, 537 ; Sw. Obs. Bot. 156 ; Macf. 

 Jam. i. 341 ; Griseb. loc. cit. C. melanocarpa Bert, ex DC. 

 Prodr. ii. 491 (1825); Macf. Jam. i. 338. C. viminea foliis &c. 

 Browne Hist. Jam. 223. Sena spuria tetraphylla &c. Sloane 

 Cat. 149 & Hist. ii. 49, t. 180, /. 6, 7. The type, Browne's 

 specimen, is in Herb. Linn. 



