Vernacular Names
Indonesia: bobondelan (Sundanese), boking-boking (Sumatra), trengguli (Javanese). Malaysia: bebusok, busok-busok (Peninsular). Philippines: pink shower (En), antsoan (Bikol). Cambodia: bô prùk'. Laos: khoun loy2. Thailand: chaiaphruk (central), kalalphruk (central, northern), lak khoei lak kluea (Trang). Vietnam: b[uf] c[aj]p, mu[oof]ng b[of] c[aj]p.
Description
A small to medium-sized tree up to 25(-40) m tall, deciduous or semi-deciduous, trunk of young trees either smooth or armed with stump-remnants of branches; leaves with 5-15(-20) pairs of leaflets, petiole 1.5-4 cm long, leaflets elliptical-ovate to oblong, 2.5-5 cm x 1.5-2.5 cm, base broadly rounded, apex acute or rounded to obtuse; inflorescence a raceme or panicle, terminal on leafy shoots or lateral on short side branches, up to 16 cm long, many-flowered; flowers with sepals 4-10 mm long, green to dark red, petals 15-35 mm long, whitish to reddish or buff, stamens 10, 3 longer ones with filaments 2 cm long, 4 shorter with filaments about 1 cm long and 3 reduced wih filaments about 1 cm long and minute anthers; fruit pendent, terete, 20-60 cm long, 1-1.5(-2.5) cm in diameter, indehiscent; seeds numerous, embedded in a flat disk. Cassia javanica is a very polymorphic species and several subspecies are distinguished. It has a wide ecological amplitude and is generally found at lower elevations.
Selected Sources
[97] Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink Jr, R.C., 1963-1968. Flora of Java. 3 volumes. Noordhoff, Groningen, the Netherlands. Vol. 1 (1963) 647 pp., Vol. 2 (1965) 641 pp., Vol. 3 (1968) 761 pp.
[202] Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. Revised reprint. 2 volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Vol. 1 (A-H) pp. 1-1240. Vol. 2 (I-Z) pp. 1241-2444.
[284] Corner, E.J.H., 1988. Wayside trees of Malaya. 3rd Edition. 2 volumes. The Malayan Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 774 pp.
[336] de Wit, H.C.D., 1956. A revision of the genus Cassia (Caesalp.) as occurring in Malaysia. Webbia 11: 197-292.
[357] Ding Hou, Larsen, K. & Larsen, S.S., 1996. Caesalpiniaceae (Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae). In: Kalkman, C., Kirkup, D.W., Nooteboom, H.P., Stevens, P.F. & de Wilde, W.J.J.O. (Editors): Flora Malesiana. Series 1, Vol. 12(2). Rijksherbarium/Hortus Botanicus, Leiden University, the Netherlands. pp. 409-730.
[580] Heyne, K., 1950. De nuttige planten van Indonesië [The useful plants of Indonesia]. 3rd Edition. 2 volumes. W. van Hoeve, 's-Gravenhage, the Netherlands/Bandung, Indonesia. 1660 + CCXLI pp.
[640] Ibnu Utomo W., B., 1998. Cassia L. In: Sosef, M.S.M., Hong, L.T. & Prawirohatmodjo, S. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia 5(3). Timber trees: Lesser-known timbers. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, the Netherlands. pp. 144-146.
[653] Irwin, H.S. & Barneby, R.C., 1982. The American Cassiinae. A synoptical revision of Leguminosae tribe Cassieae subtribe Cassiinae in the New World. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 35(2): 64-635.
[817] Larsen, K., Larsen, S.S. & Vidal, J.E., 1980. Légumineuses-Caesalpinioïdées [Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae]. In: Vidal, J.E. & Vidal, Y. (Editors): Flore du Cambodge, du Laos et du Viêtnam [Flora of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam]. Vol. 18. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France. 227 pp.
[1520] Verdcourt, B., 1979. A manual of New Guinea legumes. Botany Bulletin No 11. Office of Forests, Division of Botany, Lae, Papua New Guinea. 645 pp.
[1564] Whitmore, T.C. & Ng, F.S.P. (Editors), 1972-1989. Tree flora of Malaya. A manual for foresters. 2nd Edition. 4 volumes. Malayan Forest Records No 26. Longman Malaysia Sdn. Berhad, Kuala Lumpur & Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.