Dilip Walse Patil

Scientific Name : Cassia fistula L.

Category : Angiosperms

Status : Alive

Habit : A small tree. Stem : Aerial, erect, woody, branched, cylindrical, solid and glabrous. Leaves : Alternate, unipinnateparipinnately compound, stipules small, leaflets 4-8 pairs, large, ovate, entire or wavy, acute, base wedge-shaped. Inflorescence : Long drooping racemes. Flowers : Bracteate, pedicellate, complete, zygomorphic, bisexual, yellow. Calyx made up of 5 sepals, divided to the base, imbricate, oblong. Corolla made up of 5 petals, clawed, obovate, veined. Stamens 10, the 3 longest stamens are much curled and bear large, oblong, much curled anthers, the 4 median stamens are straight and the 3 remaining are very short and erect, staminodes. Ovary free at the bottom of the calyx, superior, monocarpellary, unilocular, ovules many, marginal placentation. Fruit : A legume, long, cylindric, pendulous, indehiscent. Seeds : Ovate, many, imbedded horizontally in sweet, dark-coloured pulp, separated by transverse dissepiments called phragmatas. Flowering and Fruiting Time : March-July (fruiting throughout the year). Significance : Used for road-side plantations because of its excellent yellow shower flower. Wood is used for agricultural implements. The bark is used for tanning and dyeing.