Golden shower
Cassia fistula grows up to medium height; the plant is drought tolerant with an excellent flowering tree for arid region. It has cattle repellant nature and the tree is also an important medicinal plant
Botanical Name - Cassia fistula
Common Name - Indian laburnum/Golden shower
Additional Info
A small to medium-sized, open branched, deciduous and hardy tree of slow growth,
reaching a height of 8- 10m. Bark smooth, greenish grey on young trees, turning brown
and rough with age. Leaves large, up to 40 cm long, paripinnate; leaflets 8 -16, opposite,
glabrous when mature, ovate, acute or shortly acuminate, up to 12 cm long and 9 cm
broad; new leaves often of rich copper color with a soft downy undersurface and remain
pendulous and folded until fully falling prematurely; inflorescence long pendulous raceme,
bright yellow in color; corolla 5, large, showy, unequal, ovate; petals clawed; stamens
10, yellow, 3 with long curved filaments.
Fruit a pod, 3- 60 cm long, indehiscent, green when young and black after ripening, with 40 -100 seeds, embedded in a dark-colored sweetish pulp and separated by transverse partitions. It is drought tolerant and therefore, an excellent flowering tree for arid regions, though well-drained soil of moist locality is also suitable for growing this tree. It is suitable along small and medium roads, also for planting in parks and gardens.
The cattle repellant nature of the plant makes it suitable for open planting. The tree is also an important medicinal plant. The pulp of the fruit is used to cure leprosy, heart diseases, and abdominal pain and also used as a common laxative. The wood is hard and mainly used for making handles of tools and agricultural implements.