Indian-laburnum

Cassia fistula, the Indian laburnum or golden shower tree, is a medium-sized deciduous tree in the family Fabaceae, reaching up to about 18 m tall. It bears pinnately compound leaves with three to eight pairs of opposite, ovate to oblong leaflets that are glossy and bright green. The tree is celebrated for its spectacular pendulous racemes of fragrant, bright yellow flowers, each with five subequal petals, that hang in long clusters and appear in profusion in spring and early summer, often before or with the new foliage. The fruit is a distinctive, long cylindrical indehiscent pod 30-60 cm long and dark brown to black at maturity, divided internally into many transverse compartments, each containing a single hard, glossy seed embedded in a sweet, sticky, dark pulp. Native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, it is now widely planted throughout the tropics as an ornamental and is the national tree of Thailand and the state flower of Kerala.