Cassia | |
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Cassia javanica | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Fabales |
Family: | Fabaceae |
Subtribe: | Cassiinae |
Genus: | Cassia L. |
Species | |
Hundreds; see text | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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Cassia is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae, and the subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Species are known commonly as cassias. Cassia is also the English common name of some species in the genus Cinnamomum of the family Lauraceae. 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 trees.
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.
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.
There are hundreds of Cassia species, but it is unclear just how many. One estimate stands at 692. [2] 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. [3] Many taxa have since been transferred to more appropriate genera, such as Senna.
Cassia comprises the following species: [3] [4] [5]
The status of the following species is unresolved: [5]
The following hybrids have been described: [5]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cassia . |
Bauhinia is a large genus of flowering plants in the subfamily Cercidoideae and tribe Bauhinieae, in the large flowering plant family Fabaceae, with a pantropical distribution. The genus was named after the Bauhin brothers Gaspard and Johann, Swiss-French botanists.
Zornia is a cosmopolitan genus of herbs from the legume family Fabaceae. It was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic Adesmia clade of the Dalbergieae.
Indigofera is a large genus of over 750 species of flowering plants belonging to the pea family Fabaceae. They are widely distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world.
Prostanthera, commonly known as mintbush or mint bush, is a genus of about 100 species of flowering plants in the mint family Lamiaceae, and all are endemic to Australia. Plants are usually shrubs, rarely trees with leaves in opposite pairs. The flowers are arranged in panicles in the leaf axils or on the ends of branchlets. The sepals are joined at the base with two lobes. The petals are usually blue to purple or white, joined in a tube with two "lips", the lower lip with three lobes and the upper lip with two lobes or notched.
Senna, the sennas, is a large genus of flowering plants in the legume family. This diverse genus is native throughout the tropics, with a small number of species in temperate regions. The number of species is estimated to be from about 260 to 350. The type species for the genus is Senna alexandrina. About 50 species of Senna are known in cultivation.
Piptadenia is a genus of tropical shrubs and trees of the legume family.
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.
Senna artemisioides, the wormwood senna, is a species of flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae. It is endemic to Australia, where it is found in all mainland states and territories. Other common names include silver senna, silver cassia or feathery cassia - although "cassia" generally refers to the largest-growing Cassiinae. Some of its distinct subspecies also have common names of their own.
Machaerium is a genus of legume in the family Fabaceae, and was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic Dalbergia clade of the Dalbergieae. It contains the following species:
Macrolobium is a legume genus in the subfamily Detarioideae. It is a tropical genus with about 80 species. Half occur in Brazil, where they are common in the floodplains of the Amazonian Basin. Members of the genus are used as ornamentals and for their wood.
Swartzia is a genus of legume in the family Fabaceae. It was named in honor of Swedish botanist Olof Swartz and contains about 200 species. Swartzia is restricted in its geographical distribution to the New World Tropics, where it occurs primarily in lowland rainforests, but also in savannas, pre-montane forests, and tropical dry forests. While it can be found throughout the wet lowlands from Mexico and the Caribbean islands to southern Brazil and Bolivia, Swartzia is most abundant and species-rich in Amazonia, where 10–20 species may co-occur at a single site. The species of Swartzia are mostly trees, ranging from small understory treelets to large canopy emergents. Some species, especially in savannas, are mult-stemmed shrubs.
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.