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Coffee Senna

Common name: Coffee Senna, Coffeeweed, Negro coffee

 

Botanical name: Cassia occidentalis

 

Synonyms: Senna occidentalis

 

Family Fabaceae

 

Subfamily: Caesalpiniaceae (Gulmohar family)

 

Malayalam: Naattu Takara, Ponnaviram

 

The Negro coffee or Stinking weed is found throughout India, growing abundantly on waste lands immediately after the rains. It is an offensively odorous undershrub with furrowed subglabrous branches. Leaflets are 3-5 pairs. Flowers are yellow, arranged in short peduncled few flowered racemes. Fruits are cylindrical or compressed, transversely septate glabrous pods containing 20-30 seeds. Seeds are ovoid, compressed, hard, smooth and skin dark olive green or pale brown.

 

The plant is useful in vitiated conditions of vata and kapha, cough, bronchitis, constipation, fever, epilepsy and convulsions. The roots are useful in inflammation, diabetes, strangury, elephantiasis, ringworm, colic, flatulence, dyspepsia, epilepsy, convulsions and scorpion sting. The leaves and seeds are used in leprosy, erysipelas, pruritus, wounds and ulcers, cough, bronchitis, hiccough, asthma, pharyngodynia, fever and hydrophobia (Warrier et al, 1994). A paste made out of roots is considered as a specific remedy for ringworm, eczema and other skin ailments (Aiyer amd Kolammal, 1964). Bark, roots, leaves and seeds are used in medicine. The drug is an ingredient of Surasadi taila (Sivarajan et al, 1994).

 

The plant contains emodin, physcion, chrysophanol, sitosterol and a xanthone- cassiollin. Seeds contain phytosterolin and 3-methyl-6-methoxy-1, 8-dihydroxy anthraquinone. Flowers contain physcion-b-D-glucopyranoside. Roots contain phytosterol, 1, 8-dihydroxy anthraquinone, a-hydroxy anthraquinone, quercetin, 1, 4, 5-trihydroxy anthroquinone derivatives, namely, islandicin, helminthosporon and xanthorin, a xanthone derivative-cassiollin. Leaves contain flavonoids- matteucinol-7-rhamnoside and jaceidin-7-rhamnoside. The plant is febrifuge, purgative, diuretic and tonic. Seed and leaf are bitter, sweet, acrid, thermogenic and depurative and used in skin diseases. Root is an antidote for snakebite (Husain et al, 1992).

 

Taken at Kadavoor, Kerala, India

 

amprs.kau.edu/Html/AgrotechMPs.htm

 

www.missouriplants.com/Yellowalt/Cassia_occidentalis_page...

 

www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Coffee Senna.html

 

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Cassia_occidentalis

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Uploaded on December 28, 2009
Taken on November 22, 2009