Dilip Walse Patil

Scientific Name : Senna tora (L.) Roxb.

Category : Angiosperms

Status : Alive

Habit : An erect, foetid herb, subglabrous. Leaves : Leaves paripinnate, with a conical gland between the lowest 2 pairs of leaflets, leaflets 3 pairs, obovate-oblong, glaucous, glabrous or more or less pubescent. Flowers : Yellow in colour, in subsessile pairs in the axils of the leaves. Calyx divided, segments ovate, petals 5, pale-yellow, subequal, oblong, obtuse, standard 2-lobed, Stamens 10, of which three are reduced to staminodes, the remaining 7 fertile, subequal in length. Fruit : Pods 12-20 cm long, slender, subtetragonous, obliquely septate, puberulous, seeds 25-30. Flowering and Fruiting Time : August - December Significance : A very common weed everywhere on waste land. Young leaves are eaten as a vegetable. Both leaves and seeds form a valuable remedy in skin diseases. Old leaves are used as a mild purgative. The seeds are sometimes used in place of coffee beans, after roasting. The seeds are used as a remedy against ring-worm.