Cassia.] LEGUMINOSM, ^93 



4. C. Sophera, Linn. Sp. PI. 379; W. <^ A. Prjd. 287; D. Sf G. Bomb. 

 Fl. n; F. B. I. u. 262; WaU E. D. Seana Sophera, Roxh. PI. hid. ii, 347. 

 S. esctilenta, Boxh. I.e.— Vern. Kdsunda. 



A diffuse subglatrus shrub, 8-10 ft. high, annual or subperenniaL 

 Leaves S — 10 in, !cng, foetid ; ra.c?iis with a single gland at the base ; 

 leaflets 8 — 12 pairs, 2-3 in long, lanceolate, acuminate, cuneate at the 

 base, glabrous and glaucous. Plovmrs in axillary distinctly peduncled 

 corymbs; tracts green, caducous Petals subequal, yellow, hardly at- 

 all veined Stamens as in c. occidentalis. Pod. 3-4 in. long, slightly 

 falcate, turgid, transversely septate, not torulose. Seeds 30 — 40, dark- 

 brown. 



Bundelkhand (Edgeworth), Merwara (Duthie). Distrib. Throughout 

 India to Ceyl en and the Malay Penins., but much less abundant than 

 C. occidentalis. Cosmopolitan in the tropics, and probably of American 

 origin. Various parts of the plant are used medicinally. 



Var. purpurea, Roxh. Hort. Beng. 31 (sp.) ; Boyle III. 184. Senna purpu- 

 rea, Roxh. Fl. Ind. ii, 342.— Yevn. Kasundi.--A large erect much 

 branched annual with reddish-purple branches and peti 4es ; leaflets 

 smaller. — Merwara (Dathie). Disteib. Gor.imandel coast, Bengal^ 

 Assam. 



5. C. obtusifolia, Linn. Sp. PI. 371 ; Prain in Journ. As. 8oc. Beng. 

 LXVl,part ii, 159, 475. 0. toroides, Boxh. Hort. Beng. 31. 0. Tora, var. /S. 

 W. Sf A. Prod 291 {in part). C. Tora, F. B. 1. ii,263, in part not of 

 Linn.); Royle III. 184; D. Sf G. Bomb. Fl. 81; Watt E. D. Senna 

 toroides, I^oxl. Fl. III. ii, 340.— Yevn. Faniudr, 



An annual, or occasionally an undershrab up to 7 ft. high. Leaves 3-4 in. 

 long, petioled. not fcetid : stipules | ia., linear, caducous ; rachis pu- 

 berulou3. deeply grooved above, furnished with a single cjnical gland 

 between tr.e lowest pair of leaflets; leaflets S pairs, 1-2 in. long, obo- 

 ovate-oblong, broadly delt' id at the apex, rather obliquely rounded at 

 the base membranous, green, glabrous or puberulous on both surfaces ; 

 lateral nerves 8-10 pairs, indistinct, Floivers usually in subsessile pairs 

 in the leaf-axils. Calyx .5-partite t > the base, lobes green Petals 

 bright-yellow, •§ in. long, standard truncate. Stamens 7, the 3 upper 

 reduced to staminodes. Pod 8-10 in. long, sabterete, obliquely septate ; 

 valves membranous, glabrous, distinctly transversely reticulated, sat- 

 ures broad. Seeds 30-35, brown, shining. 



A very common weed all over the area by roadsides and in waste ground , 

 flowering during the rains. DrSTRiB, Abundant in Northern, Western 

 and Central India, ascending to 4,000 ft. (m the W. Himalaya ; it is 

 found also in Burma, and is very common at Sin gap re. It was intro- 

 duced originally tvi>m Tropical America. The leaves, seed's and root 

 are used medicinally ; the tender leaves are boiled and used as a pjtherb, 

 and the seeds are eaten in times .^f scarcity. This plant was long ago 

 recognized by Roxburgh as a species distinct from C. Tora, with which 

 it has been united in the Fl. Brit. Ind. and by the majority of Indian 

 authors. Dr. Prain, in the Journ. As. Soc Beng. I.e., has fiually cleared 



