108 LegUminOSCB. {Cassia. 



-compressed, with a large hilum at the pointed end, endosperm 

 scanty. 



Dry region; rare. About Jaffna, frequent; Trincomalie (Glenie) ; 

 Mannar (Crawford). Fl. Dec-Jan. ; yellow. 



Also in desert parts of India, E. Trop. Africa, and Arabia. 



One of the true medicinal sennas.; I think wild at Jaffna, where, how- 

 ever, it is also cultivated for use as a drug. 



C. alata, L., ' Rata-tora,' S., a stately handsome plant, is common by 

 paddy-fields and other wet places in the low country. It does not any- 

 where here look like a native, but is found in all Tropical countries. Well 

 •worth cultivation. 



8. C. siamea, Lam. Encycl. i. 648 (1783). Wa, Aramana, S. 

 Vakai, T. 



C. sumatrana, Roxb. Moon Cat. 33. C. florida, Vahl, Thw. Enum. 

 96. C. P. 3485. 



Fl. B. Ind. ii. 264. Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. 179. 



A moderate-sized or small tree, bark grey, nearly smooth, 

 shoots glabrous ; 1. rather large, spreading or deflexed, rachis 

 6-10 in., stout, stiff, swollen at base, shallowly channelled 

 above, nearly glabrous, stip. caducous, lflts. 12-20 (6-10 pair), 

 stalked, 2^-3 in., oblong-lanceolate, rounded at both ends, 

 tipped with minute sharp mucro, glabrous on both sides, 

 glaucous beneath, rather thick, stiff; fl. \\-i\ in., ped. about 

 1 in., downy, crowded at ends of stout pedunculate axillary 

 and terminal corymbose racemes or panicles, the whole forming 

 together a very large pyramidal terminal infior. 2 ft. or more 

 long, bracts curved, linear, stiff, fleshy, much shorter than ped., 

 cal.-segm. slightly pubescent ; pet. distant, distinctly clawed ; 

 fil. of 2 of the fertile stam. twice as long as the rest; pod very 

 long, 8-12 in. by^-fin. wide, stalked, flat, beaked, flexible, 

 very finely and closely pubescent, thickened at sutures, 8—1 5- 

 seeded. 



Low country to 2000 ft., chiefly in the moist region ; common, especi- 

 ally near rivers and streams. Fl. March, November ; rather pale yellow. 



Also in India and Malaya. 



Heart wood very hard, blackish-brown, durable ; a beautiful and use- 

 ful wood for small articles. 



9. C. timoriensis, DC. Prod. ii. 499 (1825). 



Thw. Enum. 96. C. P. 1504. 

 Fl. B. Ind. ii. 265. 



A small tree, twigs pubescent ; 1. large, rachis 7-10 in., 

 cylindrical, channelled above, pubescent, stip. foliaceous, 

 broad, with a filiform tail, semi-persistent, lflts. 20-30 (10-15 

 pair) shortly stalked, i^-if in., narrowly oblong, obtuse, 

 strongly apiculate, pubescent on both sides especially beneath; 

 .fl. 1^ in., on I in. ped. in short numerous corymbose panicles 



