Occurrence (Special Areas) :
Gujarat Forestry Research Foundation, Indroda Park, Ayurvedic Udyan, Sarita Udyan, Van Chetana Kendra, Infocity, Aranya Van
About Cassia fistula Plant :
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.
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.
The pulp of the fruit furnishes an excellent and safe purgative, useful in chest and heart diseases.
