| Ehela | |
| Synonyms: | |
| Vernacular Name: Sinhala: Ehela; Eng: Indian laburnum, Golden shower, Purging cassia; Sans: Aragvadha, Avahataka; Hin: Amaltas; Tam: Konnei. | |
| Description: A medium sized deciduous tree, 6-9 meters tall with a straight trunk and spreading branches (Fig. 1). Stem bark is pale grey, smooth and slender when young and dark brown and rough when old. Leaves alternate 20-40 em long, paripinnate,long stalked stipulate petioles 6-9 mm long, leaflets 5-15 cm long, ovate, acute stalked. Flowers-large bright yellow in long axillary racemes. Fruit -a pod 30-60 cm long and over 30 cm thick. | |
| Propagation: By seeds. | |
| Part Used: Root bark, Root, Pulp, Leaves and Flowers. | |
| Chemical Constituents: The leaves of Cassia fistula contain free rhein, glucoside and sennosides A and B. A butanol extract of the powdered stem bark contained tannins while the benzeme extract yielded lupeol, ?-sitosterol and hexacosanol. From the alcoholic extract of the pods an anthraquinone (fistulic acid) was obtained and identified as 1, 4-dihydroxy-6, 7-dimethoxy,2-methylanthraquinone-3-carboxylic acid. Kaempferol and a proanthocyanidin have been isolated from the flowers and leucope-largonidin trimer from the bark. | |
| Uses: Widely planted as a handsome ornamental tree, the plant is being considered as a firewood source in Mexico. The reddish wood, hard and heavy (spec. grav. 0.9), strong and durable, is suited for cabinetwork, farm implements, inlay work, posts, wheels, mortars, etc. The bark has been employed in tanning, often in conjunction with avaram. The drug "cassia fistula", a mild laxative, is obtained from the sweetish pulp around the seed. | |
