3536.000 Cassia L.

Brenan, J.P.M. (1967) Leguminosae Subfamily Caesalpinioideae Flora of Tropical East Africa

Description of the genus

Unarmed trees or shrubs. Leaves paripinnate, without glands on petiole or rhachis. Flowers in many-flowered racemes; bracteoles 2 at base of pedicels. Sepals 5. Petals 5, yellow (in ours). Stamens 10, filaments of 3 lower stamens with an S-bend near the base, many times longer than their small anthers which are dorsifixed. Pod long (30-60 cm in ours), cylindric or elongate.

Comment: A useful key to the cultivated species of Cassia is to be found on pp. 48-50 of the Flora of Tropical East Africa, Caesalpinioideae (Brenan 1967).

Worldwide: c.30 species, pantropical

Zimbabwe: 4 taxa.

Insects associated with this genus:

Coeliades pisistratus (Two-pip policeman) Larval foodplant

Grammodora nigrolineata (Black-lined eggar) Larval foodplant

Links to taxa: View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

Species	FZ divisions	Content
abbreviata Oliv.[Agg]	N,W,C,E,S	Description, Image
abbreviata Oliv. subsp. abbreviata	N,W,C,E
abbreviata Oliv. subsp. beareana (Holmes) Brenan	N,W,C,E,S
afrofistula Brenan var. patentipila Brenan[CR]	E	Description, Image

Other sources of information about Cassia:

Our websites:

Flora of Botswana: Cassia
Flora of Burundi: Cassia
Flora of Caprivi: Cassia
Flora of Malawi: Cassia
Flora of Malawi: cultivated Cassia
Flora of Mozambique: Cassia
Flora of Mozambique: cultivated Cassia
Flora of Zambia: Cassia
Flora of Zimbabwe: cultivated Cassia

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Cassia
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Cassia
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Cassia
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Cassia
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Cassia
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Cassia
JSTOR Plant Science: Cassia
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Cassia
Plants of the World Online: Cassia
Tropicos: Cassia
Wikipedia: Cassia