Cassia grandis

Cassia grandis
Scientific classification Edit this 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 brasiliana
  • Cassia brasiliana var. tomentosa Miq.
  • Cassia brasiliensis
  • Cassia mollis
  • Cassia pachycarpa

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

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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

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  1. ^ a b c Datiles, M. J; Acevedo-Rodríguez, P (2022). "Cassia grandis (pink shower)". doi:10.1079/cabicompendium.11439. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ^ "Cassia grandis". Useful Tropical Plants. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  3. ^ "Cassia grandis - Plant Finder". Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ "The Trees That Miss the Mammoths".
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