The golden shower tree is a medium-sized tree, growing to 10–20 m tall with fast growth. The leaves are deciduous, 15–60 cm long, and pinnate with three to eight pairs of leaflets, each leaflet 7–21 cm long and 4–9 cm broad. The fragrant flowers are produced in pendulous racemes 20–40 cm long, each flower 4–7 cm diameter with five yellow petals of equal size and shape. The fruit is a legume, 30–60 cm long and 1.5–2.5 centimetres broad, with a pungent odour and containing several seeds. The tree has strong and very durable wood.
Cassia fistula is widely grown as an ornamental plant in tropical and subtropical areas. It blooms in late spring. Flowering is profuse, with trees being covered with yellow flowers, many times with almost no leaf being seen. It will grow well in dry climates. Growth for this tree is best in full sun on well-drained soil; it is relatively drought tolerant and slightly salt tolerant. It will tolerate light brief frost, but can get damaged if the cold persists. It can be subject to mildew or leaf spot, especially during the second half of the growing season. The tree will bloom better where there is pronounced difference between summer and winter temperatures.
In Ayurvedic medicine, the golden shower tree is known as aragvadha, meaning "disease killer". The fruit pulp is considered a purgative, and self-medication or any use without medical supervision is strongly advised against in Ayurvedic texts. Though its use in herbalism has been attested to for millennia, little research has been conducted in modern times.
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Gorgeous flowers. These flowers bring back good childhood memories. I lived in Thailand for four years and really loved my time there.
ReplyDeleteThe flowers look quite delicate! Love the colour!
ReplyDeleteYet another flower that's completely new to me, beautifully photographed and described. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteOnce i had them in my garden, too - it's along time ago!
ReplyDeleteHeisann! Wonderful "sunstar" flowers shining .... almost like mine.... Have a nice weekend ;:OD)
ReplyDeleteLovely flowers. Have a nice weekend! Marika
ReplyDeleteI've never seen these beautiful flowers. Thank you for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteI think I have seen this kind of flowers before. And I like the name too- golden showers.
ReplyDeleteOoo, what a lovely blossom!
ReplyDeleteThanks Nick for the comment in my linked post. I am thinking about the illness you are referring too. I think that was the respiratory allergy i got before i travelled to Sydney in November. That was long ago. It suddenly ended there and i had a wonderful time mostly the whole of December in New Zealand. And yes, by the way, i have two growing Cassia fistula near my house in the province, but they get so vigorously growing so need to prune them regularly.
ReplyDeleteKatarina and Chasing the blooms, your links are not working...
ReplyDelete