Occurrence (Special Areas) :
Gujarat Forestry Research Foundation, Indroda Park, Ayurvedic Udyan
About Senna tora Plant :
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.
