Cassia tomentosa

L. f.

Downy Cassia

Fabaceae Edible: Leaves, Flowers

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Description

A shrub 3-4 m tall. It has velvety yellow hairs all over the plant. The leaflets are in 4-9 pairs. They are oblong and 1-4 cm long by 1 cm wide. They are rounded with a sharp point at the top end. They are more hairy underneath. The leaf stalk does not have glands. The leaf axis has glands between some or all of the pairs of leaflets. The flower cluster is branched with 2- flowered stalks. The petals are bright yellow. These are 1-1.3 cm long. The fruit are pods which are 8-14 cm long and round or somewhat flattened. They are 0.8-1.5 cm wide. The pods have partitions along their length and the whole pod drops without splitting open to shed the seeds.

Edible Uses

The flowers are boiled and eaten, and the leaves are also edible.

Traditional Uses

The flowers are boiled and eaten.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Distribution

A tropical plant. It grows in Papua New Guinea between 1950 and 2670 m altitude. It will grow in cooler areas of Australia.

Where It Grows

Asia, Australia, Central America, Mexico, Myanmar, North America, Pacific, Papua New Guinea, PNG, Peru, SE Asia, South America,

Other Information

It is not known if they are used for food in Papua New Guinea.

Notes

There are 100 Cassia species. This group has been revised to a smaller more consistent group. Also as Caesalpinaceae.

Also Known As

Kazazaw-bok, Mutuy

References (6)

GADE,
Lord, E.E., & Willis, J.H., 1999, Shrubs and Trees for Australian gardens. Lothian. p 212
Macmillan, H.F. (Revised Barlow, H.S., et al), 1991, Tropical Planting and Gardening. Sixth edition. Malayan Nature Society. Kuala Lumpur. p 356
Martin, F.W. & Ruberte, R.M., 1979, Edible Leaves of the Tropics. Antillian College Press, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. p 198
Suppl. pl. 231. 1782 ("1781")

Show all 6 references