Cassia javanica Linnaeus subsp. javanica
Morphological description (see also Cassia javanica )
Deciduous tree up to 15 m high; young specimens with the trunk armed with stumps of branches; young branches almost glabrous. Stipules falcate to pointed, elliptic, attached in the middle.
Leaves paripinnate, with 5-15 pairs of leaflets; petiole nearly glabrous, 1.5-4 cm; rachis 20-30 cm; extrafloral nectaries absent. Leaflets on a short petiolule, elliptic-ovate to oblong, 2.5-5 by 1.5-2.5 cm, apex rounded to blunt (obtuse), base usually broadly rounded; upper surface feebly shining, lower dull, finely appressed pubescent.
Inflorescences: Racemes arising laterally from the branches, forming corymbs, patent or deflexed, 5-16 cm long; peduncle 2-3 cm; bracts ovate-acute, 10-15 mm long; bracteoles axillary, linear oblong, 4-5 mm long; pedicel 3-5 cm.
Flower. (javanica jav Cassia fl FT26 )Sepals ovate-acute, dark red to reddish brown, 7-10 mm. Petals first pink later dark red, finally pale, obovate, 25-35 by 7-8 mm, claw 3 mm long. Stamens 10; 3 long, recurved, with a spherical enlargement near the middle of the 20 mm long filament, anthers 4 mm, opening by apical and basal slits; 4 shorter ones, c. 10 mm long, with anthers opening by basal pores; 3 reduced stamens c. 10 mm long, with minute anthers. Ovary pubescent, slender, recurved on a thin stipe; stigma indistinct.
Pods terete, black, indehiscent, 20-60 cm long, 1-1.5 cm diameter.
Seeds 50-75, glossy corky, brown, flat, more or less orbicular, embedded in a flat disc.
Distribution
Widespread in the Malesian area, wild and cultivated. It was described on a specimen from Java. Now widely cultivated all over tropical Asia. According to Irwin & Barneby (1982: 46) this subspecies has not been introduced to the American tropics.
Habitat
Mainly occurring in the deciduous monsoon forests at lower altitude.
Uses
Cultivated in gardens and as wayside tree; also used for mixed reafforestations. The timber, which is very hard, is used for various purposes. Locally also used as a medicinal plant. See Heyne (1950: 743), and Burkill (1935: 476).