Common Name: Celyon cassia, Red cassia. Tamil Name: Sivappu kondrai
Ceylon cassia is a tree native to the Indian-Subcontinent and grows to around 15 meters in height. This tree is often planted in gardens and road sides as an ornamental tree. The leafs are bipinnate. Each pinna consists of around 17 pairs of leaflets. The leaf base has a sickle shaped stipule. The leaflet stalk and leaflet measure around 3 mm and 2.8 cm in length respectively. The leaflets are elliptic in shape, the tip is rounded with a very small notched extension. The inflorescence emerge as a single stalked cluster from the leaf axis. The flowers are papery and have terracotta color. The flower stalk and flower across measure around 1.9 cm and 2 cm respectively. The distinct petals are obovate in shape and clawed. The flower encloses 10 stamens and a single curved large (2.1 cm long). Three stamens are very long (when compared to the rest) and the anther filaments in them are not swollen in the middle (in a look alike species C javanica these anther filaments are swollen). The fruit is in the form of a very long pod which can measure around 30 cm. The pod consists of several seeds each having its own partition. Ceylon cassia is an attractive ornamental tree. Ceylon cassia is the larval host plant for Lemon emigrant butterfly.
