Kanya pistula
Cassia fistula · Golden shower tree
- Names in the 1901 book
- Cañafistula, Sp.; Lombayog̃, Ibabaw, Baloyog̃, Vis.; Purging Cassia, Eng.
- Names in the 1985 book
- English: Golden shower, Pudding pipe tree; Tagalog: Kanya pistula; Visayan: Bitsula, Ibaban, Lombayong
- Colours
- floweryellowpodblack
- Native range
- Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia
- In the Philippines, per the book
- Common in Luzon and Panay. Blooms in March.
- Family
- Fabaceae, filed in the book under Leguminosæ
- Printed in 1901 as
- Cassia fistula, L.
- Printed in 1985 as
- Cassia fistula L.
- Sources
- Page 99 on Project Gutenberg · Healing Wonders of Herbs (1985), page 97 · Wikipedia
The plant today
Cassia fistula, also known as golden shower, purging cassia, Indian laburnum, kani konna, or pudding-pipe tree, is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. The species is native to the Indian subcontinent and adjacent regions of Southeast Asia. It is the national tree and flower of Thailand and the state flower of Kerala state in India. It is also a popular ornamental plant and is also used in herbal medicine.
Excerpt from “Cassia fistula” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Recorded in the Philippines
GBIF holds 149 records of this plant from the Philippines. The ones with map coordinates fall in 25 provinces, most often Laguna (23), Metropolitan Manila (18), Cavite (6), Davao del Sur (6), Batangas (4), Palawan (4), Rizal (4), Bataan (3), and 17 more.
Counts from GBIF occurrence records, October 2026. They include planted trees and garden plants, and a province with no records may only lack collectors.
What the 1901 book says
A historical record, quoted as printed. Doses and remedies here are not medical advice.
Uses
The pod known in pharmacy under the name of “Cañafistula” contains a blackish, sweet pulp, which is a mild purgative if combined with carminatives, but it produces severe colic if given alone. The urine sometimes takes on a dark color after taking it. The laxative dose is 4–8 grams, the purgative 30–60.
Extract of Cassia.—
[table omitted; see the source text]
After mixing the pulp with water the liquid is strained through a woolen cloth; the material which remains in the strainer is washed with a little more cold water which is added to the other liquid and the two are evaporated to the consistency of the extract.
Dose
15–30 grams.
Dr. Irving states that the root is a very energetic purgative. In Concan the juice of the tender leaves is used in the treatment of impetigo.
Botanical description
A tree with trunk about as thick as the human body, with leaves opposite and abruptly pinnate. Leaflets, the lower ones smaller, 5 pairs, ovate, lanceolate, glabrous and rather tough. Common petiole, cleft at the base, lacking glandule. Flowers bright yellow, in long, pendulous racemes. Calyx, 5 ovate sepals. Corolla, 5 unequal petals. Stamens 10, free, 3 longer than the rest. Ovary unilocular, many-ovuled. Pod cylindrical, pointed at the end, woody, black, 1–2° long, with many circular seeds, surrounded by a blackish pulp and separated by partitions.
What the 1985 book uses it for
A record of home remedies from 1985, with the book's amounts and doses reworded. It is not medical advice.
- Athlete's footJuice of young leaves, applied after a foot bath.Apply after the makabuhay foot bath.Page 15
- Skin itchiness and allergyCrushed young leaves rubbed on.Rub on until the itching eases.Page 38
Summarised from Herminia de Guzman-Ladion, Healing Wonders of Herbs (Manila: Philippine Publishing House, 1985), where this plant is shown as “Kanya pistula” on page 97. The book is in copyright, so its wording and photographs are not reproduced. Amounts are the book's, restated.
Recent research
The most cited papers since 2022 that name this plant in the title, pulled from Europe PMC in October 2026. Titles are the authors' own and the findings have not been reviewed here.
- Biosynthesizing Cassia fistula Extract-Mediated Silver Nanoparticles for MCF-7 Cell Lines Anti-Cancer Assay
- Sustainable removal of arsenic from simulated wastewater using solid waste seed pods biosorbents of Cassia fistula L
- Isolation, characterization and pharmacological potentials of methanol extract of Cassia fistula leaves: Evidenced from mice model along with molecular docking analysis