General Informations
Cassia fistula, commonly known as golden shower, purging cassia, Indian laburnum, or pudding-pipe tree, is a flowering plant in the subfamily Caesalpiniaceae of the legume family, Fabaceae. The species is native to the Indian subcontinent and adjacent regions of Southeast Asia. It ranges from eastward throughout India to Myanmar and Thailand and south to Sri Lanka and southern Pakistan. It is a popular ornamental plant and is also used in herbal medicine.
In Ayurvedic medicine, the golden shower tree is known as aragvadha, meaning “disease killer”. The fruit pulp is considered a purgative. Though it has been used in herbalism for millennia, little research has been conducted in modern times, although it is an ingredient in some mass-produced herbal laxatives. When used as such, it is known as “cassia pods”.
