संस्कृत नाम- आरग्वधः
Botanical name - Cassia fistula
Description - Cassia fistula is moderate sized about 20-30 ft high and deciduous. The trunk is straight with dark brown bark. Much branched with pinnately compound leaves. Leaflets are 4-8 pairs and ovate, acute with bright green colour. The Flowers are bright yellow in lax recemes, pendulous, pedicels are long and slender calyx is long, divided to the base. Corolla is yellow, 5 petalled, sub-equal, shortly clawed and veined. The fruits are cylindric pods, 1-2 ft long, pendulous, indehiscent, brown-black, with numerous horizontal seeds immersed in the pulp. Seeds are broadly ovate. The tree is a conspicuous sight in flowers as well as in fruits and can be spotted in a forest even from long distance.
Chemical_Constituents- Root bark contains tannin, phlobaphenes and oxyanthraquinone substances. Bark contains fistucacidin. Leaves contain anthraquinone derivative and little tannin. Sapwood contains leucoanthocyanidin. Pod contains Rhein glucoside, lupeol, Beta-sitosterol, hexacosanol, proanthocyanidins epiafzelechin and epicatechin. Seed oil contains fatty acids
Uses - The pulp from the fruits, called Cassia pulp, is a well-known laxative