CASSIA FISTULA 99 



decoction of the flowers is pectoral and febrifuge and is given 

 in bronchitis, asthma and malarial fever. The flowers contain 

 a bitter principle. The roots are acrid and poisonous. The 

 seeds of the green fruit are eaten frequently by children ; when 

 ripe they contain gallic and tannic acids, by virtue of which 

 they are used in tanning hides and to dye yellow combined with 

 alum, and black combined with salts of iron. They also con- 

 tain a pigment and a resin. 



Infusion of the Flowers. — 



Flowers of the caballero, dry 20 grams. 



Water 500 " 



Sugar 70 " 



Mix. Dose, a wineglassful several times a day. 



Botanical Description. — A shrub, with prickly trunk. 

 Leaves twice abruptly pinnate. Leaflets 5-8 pairs, glabrous, 

 ovate and elliptical, bearing a spine at the extremity, 3 stipules 

 to each pair of leaflets. Flowers yellow and red, in racemes on 

 the ends of the branches. Calyx divided almost to the base, 

 with 5 concave parts. Corolla, 5 petals 1' long with short 

 ,claws, one petal very small and straight, the others larger, with 

 wavy edges. Stamens 10, crimson, 3' long, free, woolly, united 

 at the lower end. Pistil the same length as the stamens. 

 Stigma somewhat concave. Ovary sessile, unilocular, many- 

 ovuled. Pod compressed, with 7 or more seeds inserted on the 

 superior suture and separated from each other by fleshy divisions. 



Habitat. — ^Yery common in gardens where it is cultivated 

 for its beautiful flowers. Blooms throughout the entire year. 



Cassia fistula, L. 



NoM. VuLG. — Canafistula, Sp.; Lombayog, Ibahaw, Baloyog, 

 Vis.; Purging Cassia, Eug. 



Uses. — The pod known in pharmacy under the name of 

 " Canafistula " contains a blackish, sweet pulp, which is a mild 

 purgative if combined with carminatives, but it produces severe 



