Botanical name-Cassia auriculata
English name-Mature tea tree
Sinhala name:-Ranawara
Tamil name-AvAra
Description:-Ranawara is a much branched shrub with smooth cinnamon brown bark and closely pubescent brachletsThe leaves are alternate, stipulate, paripinnate compound, very numerous, closely placed, rachis 8.8-12.5 cm long, narrowly furrowed, slender,pubescent, with an erect linear gland between the leaflets of each pair, leaflets 16-24, very shortly stalked 2-2.5 cm long 1-1.3 cm broad, slightly overlapping, oval oblong, obtuse, at both ends, mucronate, glabrous or minutely downy, dull green, paler beneath, stipules very large, reniform-rotund, produced at base on side of next petiole into a filliform point and persistent.
Its flowers are irregular, bisexual, bright yellow and large (nearly 5 cm across), the pedicels glabrous and 2.5 cm long. The racemes are few-flowered, short, erect, crowded in axils of upper leaves so as to form a large terminal inflorescence stamens barren; the ovary is superior, unilocular, with marginal ovules.
The fruit is a short legume, 7.5–11 cm long, 1.5 cm broad, oblong, obtuse, tipped with long style base, flat, thin, papery, undulately crimpled, pilose, pale brown. 12-20 seeds per fruit are carried each in its separate cavity.
Grows in- Sri Lanka, India
Ayurvedic usage-
Treatment for:-Skin diseases,Dysentery,Diabetes mellitus.
Parts used to make medicine-Leaves ,Flowers,Barks,Roots
Propagation -Seeds
Read more:
“ Ranawara botanically known as Cassea- Auriculata too a lovely bush which flowers beautifully. It leaves are crowded at the ends of the branches. The bark is About as thick as cinnamon, taste sweet and is moderately astringent. It is an Evergreen plant.
The flowers are large and yellow . The plant grow widely in the Madhya Pradesh and the Western peninsula of India. It grows abundantly throughout the dry zone, And is common plant near the coast of Sri Lanka.
The panchangaya or the five parts of the Ranawara tree such as leaves ,roots ,flowers, bark and seeds are commonly used in indigenous treatment. They are used especially in the treatment of diseases of the urinary organs and also in case of constipation.
In the treatment of diabetes it gives excellent results either as a powder as a decocation with bee’s honey.
An infusion of the leaves makes a cool drink. The indigenous physicians have recommended Ranawara leaves and flowers in the form of tea, especially in the case of diabetes. It is also called Matara Tea, under which name Trimen’s ofFlora of Ceylon refers to it. The people in the dry zone drink it as a remedy for malaria or other fevers.”
Dr Seela Fernando, HERBAL FOOD and MEDICINES in SRI LANKA
