Cassia grandis
This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2023) |
Cassia grandis | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Fabales |
Family: | Fabaceae |
Subfamily: | Caesalpinioideae |
Genus: | Cassia |
Species: | C. grandis
|
Binomial name | |
Cassia grandis L.f.
| |
Synonyms | |
|
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 (2014-04-04). "Cassia grandis (pink shower)". CABI Digital Library. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
- ^ "Cassia grandis". Useful Tropical Plants. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
- ^ "Cassia grandis - Plant Finder". Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
- ^ https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2307/1933802 [bare URL]
- ^ https://www.americanforests.org/article/the-trees-that-miss-the-mammoths/#:~:text=In%20the%20case%20of%20Cassia,sloths%20and%20elephant-like%20gomphotheres. [bare URL]
External links
[edit]Media related to Cassia grandis at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Cassia grandis at Wikispecies