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Cassia roxburghii DC. (Fabaceae; subfamily: Caesalpinioideae); an addition to

the flora of West Bengal

Article · January 2019

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PHYTOTAXONOMY Dr. S.K. Jain Commemoration Volume ISSN : 0972-4206
Date of Publication : October - 2021
Vol. 19, 2019. pp. 01-00
Cassia roxburghii DC. (Fabaceae; subfamily: Caesalpinioideae); an
addition to the flora of West Bengal
Shamim Alam1 and Adani Lokho2*
1
Department of Botany, Suri Vidyasagar College, Suri-731101, Birbhum, West Bengal, India.
2
Department of Botany, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan-731235, Birbhum, West Bengal, India.
*Email: lokhoabba@gmail.com

Cassia roxburghii DC. (Fabaceae, subfamily: Caesalpinioideae) is reported here as a new addition to
the flora of West Bengal. Taxonomic description of the taxon along with photoplate is provided for
easy identification. An image of the herbarium sheet of the taxon is given for authentication. An
artificial key is provided for all three species of Cassia in West Bengal.
Key Words: Cassia, New Record, Harisara, West Bengal

Introduction
The genus Cassia L. (Fabaceae,
subfamily:Caesalpinioideae) with 32 species present
worldwide is mainly distributed in tropical regions
of the northern hemisphere (Mabberley, 2018). The
genus is represented by 9 taxa in India (Sanjappa
& Ambarish, 2020) and 2 taxa have been reported
so far from West Bengal (Paul, 2015). Cassia
roxburghii DC. is mainly distributed in different parts
of India viz., Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat,
Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra,
Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.
During the field visits, two plants of C.
roxburghii DC. were spotted and collected at
Harisara on the way to Ganpur forest in the Birbhum
district. A pursuance of recent literature study
pertinent to West Bengal including district level
floras (Bennet 1979; Debnath et al. 2013;Ghosh &
Mallick, 2017; Guha Bakshi, 1984; Mitra &
Mukherjee, 2013; Paul, 2015; Prain, 1903 and Sanyal,
1994) reveals that the taxon has not been reported
from West Bengal earlier. Hence, Cassia roxburghii
DC. is reported here as a new addition to the flora
of West Bengal from Birbhum district. The taxonomic
description followed by its phenology and
distribution are provided along with a detail
photoplate for easy identification. The specimen is
deposited in Visva-Bharati Herbarium (VBH),
Department of Botany, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan.
The photograph of the herbarium sheet of the taxon
is provided for authentication.
Taxonomic treatment:
Cassia roxburghii DC.,Prodr. 2: 489. 1825; De
Wit in Webbia 11:226. 1955; Irwin & Barneby in
Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 35 (1): 51. 1982; Sanjappa,
Leg. Ind. 20. 1991. Cathartocarpus roxburghii (DC.)
Loud., Hort. Brit. 167. 1832. Cathartocarpus
marginatus G. Don. Gen. Hist. 2: 453. 1832. Cassia
marginata sensu Roxb., Hort. Beng. 31. 1814, non
Willd. 1809; Fl. Ind. 2: 338. 1832; Baker in Hook. f.,
Fl. Brit. Ind. 2. 262. 1878.
Plates 1& 2.
Medium-sized trees, 4-6 m high, branches
drooping, slender, sulcate. Stem unarmed, with bark
greyish, deeply cracked. Leaves bipinnately
compound, alternate, paripinnate; petioles 0.8-1.8 cm
long; leaflets 13-21 pairs, small, opposite, subsessile,
oblong, 2.1-3.5 ´ 0.9-1.9 cm, oblique at base, margins
entire, apex obtuse, mucronate, appressed pubescent
on both surfaces. Inflorescence axillary racemes,
short sub-corymbose, densely flowered; peduncles
5-10 cm long, pubescent; pedicel up to 1.5 cm long;
bract persistent, ovate, 0.6-0.7´ 0.4-0.5 cm; two small
bracteoles narrowly ovate, 0.2 ´0.1cm. Sepals 5, 0.4-
0.6 cm long, brownish pink. Petals 5, sub-equal, 0.9-
1.7cm long, pink with shades of red or orange.
Stamens 10, all fertile, very unequal; the lower three
stamens 2.3- 2.7 cm long with reddish filaments, twice
curved but without any swelling at the middle; the
four medium sized stamens in the middle 0.7-1 cm
long with dark brown anthers & pale yellow
filaments; the three upper small stamens 0.3-0.6 cm
long with pale brown anthers & bright yellow
filaments. Anther basifixed. Pods cylindric,
indehiscent, transversely septate, smooth, 20-30 ´
2-3 cm, brown, many celled with one seed in each
cathartic pulp cell. A single pod with 25-35 oblong
seeds of 1.0-1.2 ´ 0.7-0.9 cm.
2 PHYTOTAXONOMY VOL. 19, 2019

Plate 1. Cassia roxburghii DC.: A. Habit; B. Stem; C. Leaf; D. Inflorescence; E. Single flower; F.
Fruit; G. Seeds.
 CASSIA ROXBURGHII DC. (FABACEAE; SUBFAMILY: CAESALPINIOIDEAE); 3
AN ADDITION TO THE FLORA OF WEST BENGAL

Plate 2. An image of the herbarium sheet of Cassia roxburghii DC. (S. Alam 2014, VBH)
4 PHYTOTAXONOMY VOL. 19, 2019
Flowering: July-October;
Fruiting: December-April.
Habitat: The tree is usually planted on
roadsides, often cultivated. Two plants have been
found at Harisara on the way to Ganpur forest.
Specimens collected: INDIA, West Bengal,
Birbhum district, Harisara, 23059¢43.6²N, 87041¢8.6²
E; 18.10.2018, S. Alam 1818 (VBH); Harisara,
23059¢40.5²N, 87041¢1² E, 14.07.2020, S. Alam 2014
(VBH).
Distribution:India (Andhra Pradesh, Bihar,
Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra,
Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu), Sri Lanka, Indonesia and
Malaysia.
Artificial Key to all three species of Cassia in West
Bengal:
1a. Leaflets 4 – 8 pairs, large; flowers yellow,
in long racemes………..….. C. fistula
1b. Leaflets 6 – 21 pairs, medium; flowers pink,
in short corymbs………………….2
2a. Leaflets 6 – 12 pairs, acute; filaments of
lower three stamens yellow-colored and with distinct
swelling at the
middle………………………………….C. javanica
2b. Leaflets 13 – 21 pairs, obtuse; filaments of
lower three stamens pale red-colored, without any
swelling at the middle………………………………...
C. roxburghii
Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to the Head,
Department of Botany, Visva-Bharati University,
Santiniketan for providing facilities. The authors
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also thank sincerely to the anonymous reviewers
and the editor of the journal for their invaluable
comments and suggestions for improvement of this
manuscript.
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