Cassia abbreviata

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Rosids
Cladus: Eurosids I
Ordo: Fabales

Familia: Fabaceae
Subfamilia: Caesalpinioideae
Tribus: Cassieae
Subtribus: Cassiinae
Genus: Cassia
Species: Cassia abbreviata
Subspecies: C. a. subsp. abbreviata – C. a. subsp. beareana – C. a. subsp. kassneri
Name

Cassia abbreviata Oliv., 1871
Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Continental: Africa
Regional: Tropical Africa
Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References
Primary references

Oliver, D., 1871. Flora of Tropical Africa 2:271.

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2020. Cassia abbreviata in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2020 Aug 28. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2020. Cassia abbreviata. Published online. Accessed: Aug 28 2020.
Tropicos.org 2020. Cassia abbreviata. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 28 Aug 2020.
Catalogue of Life: 2021 Annual Checklist
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Cassia abbreviata in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 08-Apr-12.

Vernacular names
English: Sjambok pod, Long-tail cassia

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
Drinking monepenepe in Botswana.

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.[1]
Uses

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

Three subspecies are distinguished on the basis of petal size, pubescence and geographical distribution:[4]

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

References

Cassia abbreviata was originally described and published in Flora of Tropical Africa 2: 271. 1871. "Cassia abbreviata". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved December 6, 2011.
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. doi:10.1016/0031-9422(95)00656-7.
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
Orwa, C.; Mutua, A.; Kindt, R.; Jamnadass, R.; Anthony, S. "Cassia abbreviata" (PDF). worldagroforestry.org. Agroforestree Database: a tree reference and selection guide version 4.0. Retrieved 16 May 2016.