Cassia fistular

Family: Belongs to the Caesalpiniaceae family, which includes the Pink Cassia (Cassia javanica), Flamboyant (Delonix regia), and Orchid Tree (Bauhinia variegata).

Description: A beautiful, slow-growing, deciduous, small to medium-sized tree, up to 15 m tall (50 ft); leaves pinnately compound, 5-15 cm long (2-6 in), with 3-8 pairs of opposite, shiny, bright green leaflets; at flowering, almost leafless tree covered with abundance of golden yellow, five-petaled flowers, 2.5-5 cm across (1-2 in), growing in pendulous racemes, 30 cm or more in length (1 ft), a very beautiful tree when in flower; fruit a long, cylindrical, black pod, up to 80 cm long (2-1/2 ft) when mature, (and reportedly up to 90 cm or 3 ft); flowering in dry season (April-May).

Natural Habitat: Semi-dry areas of Tropics, but will grow in drier tropical locations, and will thrive in moist tropical regions with well drained soils up to 2000 ft elevation.

Origin and Distribution: Native to India and Tropical Asia, but now distributed throughout Caribbean, and other tropical and sub-tropical regions.