164 XXXI. LEGUMINOSiE. [Tamarmdus. 



Mainly cultivated on account of the acid pulp of the pod ; there are several 

 kinds, with sour, sweetish, and red pulp. The pulp contains Citric, Malic, and 

 Tartaric acids ; large quantities are imported into England from the West Indies. 

 It is officinal as a laxative and refrigerant (Pharm. Ind. 64). The seeds (chincha) 

 are used in native medicine ; pounded, they are eaten in times of scarcity, and 

 the powder mixed with gum makes cement. 



7. CASSIA, Linn. 



Trees, shrubs, or herbs, with abruptly pinnate leaves and yellow or 

 red flowers. Calyx-tube very short, segments 5, imbricate in bud. Petals 

 5, nearly equal, imbricate. Stamens 10, all perfect, or a portion (3 or 5) 

 more or less abortive. Legumes indehiscent or 2-valved. Seeds albu 

 minous. 



A tree, leaves without interpetiolar glands ; pods long, cylin- 

 drical . . . . . . . 1. C. Fistula. 



A shrub, leaves with interpetiolar glands ; pods flat . . 2. C. auriculata. 



Shrubby or herbaceous ; leaves without glands ; pods flat, broad, 

 oblong, obtuse. 

 Leaflets obovate, obtuse ; valves of pod crested . . 3. C. obovata. 



Leaflets lanceolate, acute ; valves of pod without appendages . 4. C. angustifolia. 

 Leaflets oblong, obtuse ; valves of pod without appendages . 5. C. holosericea. 



1. C. Fistula, Linn. ; Eoxb. Fl. Ind. ii. 333 ; W. & A. Prodr. 285. 

 Syn. Cathartocarpus Fistida, Pers. The Indian Laburnum. Sans. Su- 

 varna. Vern. Amaltas (fruit and tree), North India. Local names : 

 Karangal, Mclr, Jcaniar, ali, Pb., Himal. ; Ghimkani (rattler), Sindh 

 Girmala, gurmala, garmalu, Dekkan, Guzerat ; Kitwali, kitola, itola, 

 shimarra, si?n, N.W.P. ; Warga, Oudh; Jaggarwah, raila, liirojah, C.P. ; 

 Jaggra-marra, Gonds, C.P. ; Gnushwoay, Burm. 



A moderate-sized tree, nearly glabrous, extremities pubescent. Leaves 

 12-18 in. long, leaflets 4-8 pair, ovate or ovate-oblong, 2-5 in. long, on 

 petioles \ in. long, lateral nerves numerous, approximate, branching, 

 stipules minute, conical or setaceous. Flowers racemose, large, bright 

 yellow, fragrant, on long slender pedicels in the axils of minute bracts 

 which are caducous long before expansion; racemes lax, pendulous, 1-2 ft. 

 long. Calyx of 5 nearly equal, ovate obtuse lobes ; petals oval, narrowed 

 into short claws, nearly equal. Stamens unequal, the 3 lower longest, on 

 incurved filaments, with oblong anthers, dehiscing longitudinally, 4-6 

 intermediate, with the anther-cells diverging at the base, and opening at 

 that end by pores, the remaining 1-3 very short, with indehiscent anthers. 

 Pod cylindrical, pendulous, 1-2 ft. long, 1 in. diam., dark brown, smooth, 

 hard, indehiscent, divided into numerous flat 1 -seeded cells by thin trans- 

 verse partitions, filled with a soft black sweetish pulp. Seeds flat, smooth, 

 shining, the flat cotyledons with curved edges, so as to be S-shaped in 

 the transverse section. 



Common throughout the forest -tracts of India. Trans-Indus on the hills 

 near Peshawar ; ascends to 4000 ft. in the outer Himalaya. Leafless for a short 

 time in the dry season ; the fresh leaves of a lively green colour, appear April - 

 May. Fl. iu spring, and occasionally a second time in autumn. Pods ripen in 

 the cold season. 



