Cassia grandis
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2023) |
| Cassia grandis | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Caesalpinioideae |
| Genus: | Cassia |
| Species: | C. grandis
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| Binomial name | |
| Cassia grandis L.f.
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| Synonyms | |
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Cassia grandis, one of several species called pink shower tree, and known as carao in Spanish, is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to the neotropics, that grows up to 30 m (98 ft).[1] The species is distributed from southern México, to Venezuela and Ecuador. It grows in forests and open fields at lower elevations, and is known to be planted as an ornamental.[2] In at least Costa Rica, its pods are stewed into a molasses-like syrup, taken as a sweetener and for its nutritional and medicinal effects, called Jarabe (or Miel) de Carao.
Growth
[edit]The tree's leaves are pinnate and deciduous, with 8-20 pairs of leaflets of 3–5 cm (1–2 in).[1][3] During the dry season, the tree sheds its old leaves, giving way to racemes of pastel pink flowers. The long, wood-like fruit capsules reach lengths of up to 50 cm (20 in) and have many seeds, which are separated by resinous membranes that taste somewhat like carob.[1]
Laravae of two bruchid beetle species (Pygiopachymerus lineola and Zabrotes interstitialis) feed on the seeds and provide access to moths whose larvae feed on the pulp.[4] The holes they make in them A pair of scientists have speculated that now extinct ground sloths and gomphotheres are the fruit around and the seeds and helped with dispersal.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Datiles, M. J; Acevedo-Rodríguez, P (2022). "Cassia grandis (pink shower)". CABI Digital Library. doi:10.1079/cabicompendium.11439. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
- ^ "Cassia grandis". Useful Tropical Plants. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
- ^ "Cassia grandis - Plant Finder". Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
- ^ Janzen, Daniel H. (1971). "Escape of Cassia Grandis L. Beans from Predators in Time and Space". Ecology. 52 (6): 964–979. Bibcode:1971Ecol...52..964J. doi:10.2307/1933802. JSTOR 1933802.
- ^ "The Trees That Miss the Mammoths".
External links
[edit]
Media related to Cassia grandis at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Cassia grandis at Wikispecies
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