Cassia (genus)

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Cassia
Starr 030702-0030 Cassia javanica.jpg
Cassia javanica
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
Tribe: Cassieae
Subtribe: Cassiinae
Genus: Cassia
L.
Species

Hundreds; see text

Synonyms [1] [2]
  • BactyrilobiumWilld. (1809)
  • Cassia sect. FistulaDC. ex Colladon (1816)
  • Cassia subgen. Fistula(DC.) Benth. (1870)
  • Cassiasensu Link (1831)
  • Cassia subgen. vel sect. Fistulasensu Benth. (1871)
  • Cassia subgen. Cassiasensu De Wit (1955)
  • Cassiasensu Irwin & Barneby (1981)
  • CassianaRaf. (1818)
  • CathartocarpusPers. (1805_ (pro parte)
  • Mac-leayiaMontrouz. (1860)

Cassia is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae, and the subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Species are known commonly as cassias. The genus includes 37 species and has a pantropical distribution. [2] Species of the genera Senna and Chamaecrista were previously included in Cassia. Cassia now generally includes the largest species of the legume subtribe Cassiinae, usually mid-sized to tall trees.

Contents

Cassia is also the English common name of some unrelated species in the genus Cinnamomum of the family Lauraceae.

Ecology

Cassia fistula Cassia.jpg
Cassia fistula

Cassia species occur in a range of climates. Some can be utilized widely as ornamental plants. They have been used in reforestation projects, and species from desert climates can be used to prevent desertification.

Cassia species are used as food plants by the caterpillars of many lepidopteran taxa. For example, the skipper Astraptes fulgerator and the pierids Catopsilia pomona and C. pyranthe are all seen on Cassia fistula . The latter utilizes several other cassias, as well.

The plant pathogenic viruses cassia yellow blotch bromovirus and cassia yellow spot potyvirus were first described from Cassia.

Uses

Cassia sieberiana fruits Cassia sieberiana MHNT.BOT.2004.0.224.jpg
Cassia sieberiana fruits

Because the name Cassia is not precise, it is sometimes difficult to know what is meant by references to plants known as "cassias". Cassia gum, for example, is made from Senna obtusifolia , a species formerly included in genus Cassia.

Genera Cassia and Senna are both known in systems of traditional medicine. Cassia fistula , for example, is used in Ayurvedic medicine.[ citation needed ]

There exists some culinary use for cassias. The fruit of some species is edible. In Central America, its pods are stewed into a molasses-like syrup, taken as a sweetener and for its nutritional and medicinal effects. Some have toxins in their seeds, however.

Systematics and taxonomy

There are hundreds of Cassia species, but it is unclear just how many. One estimate stands at 692. [3] The genus was a wastebasket taxon for a long time, used to classify plants that did not fit well anywhere else. Over 1000 species have belonged to Cassia over the years. [4] Many taxa have since been transferred to more appropriate genera, such as Senna. Plants of the World Online accepts 37 species. [2]

Species

Cassia comprises the following species: [2] [4] [5]

Cassia occidentalis Cassia occidentalis in Anantgiri, AP W2 IMG 8828.jpg
Cassia occidentalis

See also

Related Research Articles

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<i>Piptadenia</i> Genus of legumes

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<i>Chamaecrista</i> Genus of legumes

Chamaecrista is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Members of the genus are commonly known as sensitive pea. Several species are capable of rapid plant movement. Unlike the related genera Cassia and Senna, members of Chamaecrista form root nodules.

<i>Dimorphandra</i> Genus of legumes

Dimorphandra is a genus of legume in the family Fabaceae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae. It includes 26 species native to northern South America, ranging from Colombia and Venezuela to Bolivia, Paraguay, and southeastern Brazil.

<i>Platymiscium</i> Genus of legumes

Platymiscium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, and was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic Pterocarpus clade within the Dalbergieae. It has a Neotropical distribution, from northern Mexico to southern Brazil. Platymiscium is the only genus in the family with opposite leaves in all its species. Its wood has various uses, mostly for constructions and furniture. It's wood is also sometimes referred to as Granadillo, Macacauba, Macawood, Hormigo, or Orange Agate.

<i>Swartzia</i> Genus of legumes

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<i>Zygia</i> Genus of legumes

Zygia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It includes 60 species of tres and shrubs native to the tropical Americas, from Southern Mexico and Cuba to northern Argentina. Typical habitats are tropical forest and coastal zones, generally below 900 meters elevation with a few species extending up to 2800 meters. It belongs to the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae.

Senna wislizeni, commonly called Wislizenus' senna or shrubby senna. Formerly in the "wastebin taxon" Cassia sensu lato, it is now placed in the genus Senna or sometimes separated in Palmerocassia together with Senna unijuga.

<i>Vachellia</i> Genus of legumes

Vachellia is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae, commonly known as thorn trees or acacias. It belongs to the subfamily Mimosoideae. Its species were considered members of genus Acacia until 2009. Vachellia can be distinguished from other acacias by its capitate inflorescences and spinescent stipules. Before discovery of the New World, Europeans in the Mediterranean region were familiar with several species of Vachellia, which they knew as sources of medicine, and had names for them that they inherited from the Greeks and Romans.

<i>Cassia javanica</i> Species of legume

Cassia javanica, also known as Java cassia, pink shower, apple blossom tree and rainbow shower tree, is a species of tree in the family Fabaceae. Its origin is in Southeast Asia, but it has been extensively grown in tropical areas worldwide as a garden tree owing to its beautiful crimson and pink flower bunches.

<i>Senna pendula</i> Species of legume

Senna pendula, also known as Easter Cassia, Christmas Senna, winter Senna, climbing Cassia, golden shower, pendant Senna and valamuerto, is a plant of the Fabaceae family with a shrub habit that is native to South America. It used in various parts of the world as an ornamental plant and is an environmental weed in Australia. The flowers are yellow and the name pendula means 'pendulous' or 'drooping'.

<i>Senna multijuga</i> Species of plant

Senna multijuga, commonly known as November shower or false sicklepod, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. It is native to wet tropical areas of Latin America, and widely introduced to other tropical locales such as Africa, India, Indonesia, China, Australia, and Hawaii. A fast-growing tree typically 10 m (33 ft) tall, it is planted in restoration projects, as an ornamental, and as a street tree, being especially useful under power lines.

<i>Senna hirsuta</i> Species of plant

Senna hirsuta, commonly known as woolly senna, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is native to Central and South America, but is naturalised in many other countries. It is an erect or spreading shrub or herbaceous perennial with pinnate leaves, with two to six pairs of egg-shaped leaflets, and yellow flowers arranged in groups of two to six, with six fertile stamens and four staminodes in each flower.

References

  1. Irwin HS, Barneby RC (1982). The American Cassiinae: A synoptical revision of Leguminosae tribe Cassieae subtribe Casiinae in the New World, Part 1 (PDF). Bronx, N.Y.: New York Botanical Garden. OCLC   8553234. b1010840.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Cassia L. Plants of the World Online . Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  3. Frodin DG (2004). "History and concepts of big plant genera". Taxon . 53 (3): 753–776. doi:10.2307/4135449. JSTOR   4135449.
  4. 1 2 "ILDIS LegumeWeb entry for Cassia". International Legume Database & Information Service. Cardiff School of Computer Science & Informatics. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  5. USDA; ARS; National Genetic Resources Program. "GRIN species records of Cassia". Germplasm Resources Information Network—(GRIN) [Online Database]. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  6. "Cassia brewsteri". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  7. "Cassia fistula". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 15 December 2017.