Download Cassia sieberiana DC.( LEGUMINOSAE, CAESALPINIOIDEAE)

 Canafistra (budding). Tabanca Elia, Varela (15th Apr.1997)
Cassia sieberiana DC.( LEGUMINOSAE, CAESALPINIOIDEAE)
Cassia sieberiana DC.( LEGUMINOSAE, CAESALPINIOIDEAE)
Vernacular Name:
Canafistra; canafístula (creole)
DESCRIPTION:
Tree up to 15 metres high with leaves composed by 5-8 pairs of elliptical or
oblong leaflets 5-10 cm long and 2,5-5 cm wide, with parallel secondary
nerves. Flowers in terminal bunches up to 30 cm or more long, which
usually develop before the leaves in dry season. The fruit is a very
lengthened roll-shaped pod, of over 30 cm of length, black when ripe,
indehiscent, with several crossed grooves corresponding to the seeds PARTS USED:
Roots, leaves, flowers and fruits PROPERTIES AND INDICATIONS:
The roots are peeled, cut, crushed and mixed with cold or boiling water;
once ready, the potion is then drunk. They are used in the treatment of
venereal diseases and as a laxative. The macerated part of the root
exposed to the sun is used to treat stomach pain provoked by parasites or
bellyache.
The leaves are used to treat skin diseases both by massaging the skin and
by infusion of the young leaves in the hearth.
The chewed flowers or their infusion are used to treat bellyache
The fruits are used against constipation by eating the roasted and crushed
seeds or the pulp in which the seeds are wrapped Collector: Maria Adélia Diniz
Canafistra. Tabanca Elia, Varela (15th Apr.1997)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Cassia sieberiana DC.( LEGUMINOSAE, CAESALPINIOIDEAE)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATON:
In all Central Africa the plant is used as diuretic and purgative. Roots that are cut and put inside bottles left in the sun and mixed with
other plants, are the principal parts used both by healers and the population in general.It is used for venereal disease, bellyache,
kidney-aches, leprosy and the treatment of intestinal parasites. It has some toxicity and should not be taken by pregnant women since
it can provoke abortion. One has to be very careful with the administered dosage.
In Sierra Leone, Muslims use the roots cut into pieces to chew during Ramadan. It is commonly believed to “clean the body”.
Cassia sieberiana DC. is a medicinal plant whose chemical constituents have been adequately studied and whose purgative and
antibiotic effects confirmed.
It is cultivated as an ornamental plant because of the beauty of its flowers. The wood is used in tools woodwork for its hardness and
resistance.
The tree is found in savannas, woodlands, and bushy forests, palm-tree groves and on river shores.
Its geographical distribution includes Western Africa, from Senegal to Nigeria but also in Central and East Africa, in the Central African
Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania.