Cassia abbreviata explained

Cassia abbreviata, commonly known as the sjambok pod or long-tail cassia, is a mostly tropical tree species in the genus Cassia, which is native to Africa.

Native distribution

Cassia abbreviata is native to east, northeast, south, and west-central Africa; found in Botswana, the DRC, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Somalia, South Africa (in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga), Eswatini, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Uses

Proguibourtinidins, a type of condensed tannins, can be found in C. abbreviata^[1] and guibourtinidol, a flavan-3ol, can be found in its heartwood.^[2]

Subspecies

Three subspecies are distinguished on the basis of petal size, pubescence and geographical distribution:^[3]

• Cassia abbreviata subsp. abbreviata
• Cassia abbreviata subsp. beareana (Holmes) Brenan
• Cassia abbreviata subsp. kassneri (Baker f.) Brenan

See also

• List of Southern African indigenous trees and woody lianes

External links

• Cassia abbreviata on www.ildis.org

Notes and References

1. Malan. Elfranco. Swinny. Ewald. Ferreira. Daneel. Steynberg. Petrus. 1996-03-01. The structure and synthesis of proguibourtinidins from Cassia abbreviata. Phytochemistry. 41. 4. 1209–1213. 10.1016/0031-9422(95)00656-7.
2. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=MImg&_imagekey=B6TH7-3Y2N7RP-13-3&_cdi=5275&_user=10&_pii=S0031942299003489&_orig=search&_coverDate=11%2F30%2F1999&_sk=999479993&view=c&wchp=dGLbVzb-zSkzk&md5=2f4e274184e755082b0b9de09c9d2831&ie=/sdarticle.pdf The novel Flavan-3-ol, (2R,3S)-guibourtinidol and its diastereomers. Reinier J.J. Nel, Makhosazana Mthembu, Johan Coetzee, Hendrik van Rensburg, Elfranco Malan and Daneel Ferreira, Phytochemistry 52 (1999) 1153-1158
3. Web site: Orwa . C.. Mutua . A. . Kindt . R. . Jamnadass . R. . Anthony . S. . Cassia abbreviata . worldagroforestry.org . Agroforestree Database: a tree reference and selection guide version 4.0 . 16 May 2016.