Cassia abbreviata

Cassia abbreviata Oliv.

Common names

Long tail Cassia (English); munsoka-nsoka, mununka-nshimba, musambamfwa (Bemba); musoka-nsoka (Bemba/Kunda); mleza (Kunda/Nyanja); leza (Tumbuka).

General description and distinguishing characteristics

A small to medium sized tree up to 10m high distinguished by its almost black fissured bark, and very long, velvety, cylindrical pods that persist on the tree throughout the dry season. Bark dark brown, grey or black, deeply fissured longitudinally. Leaves pinnately compound with up to 11 pairs of leaflets. Leaflets mid- to dark green, oblong, thinly textured, hairless and with entire margins, typically 4.5 x 2 cm. Flowers large, bright yellow and borne in dense clusters at the ends of the branches. When in flower, this tree is unmistakeable with its profusion of yellow blossoms (August-October). Fruit a long, grey to black, velvety cylindrical pod up to 90cm long, splitting to reveal transverse septa between the pill-shaped seeds. Fruits appear the year after flowering, and persist on the tree.

Range and habitat

Cassia abbreviata is common on sandy areas of alluvium and in thickets throughout Zambia except the Zambezi District and the Western Province. Elsewhere it occurs in Eastern and Central Africa in drier areas. In the valley, it is associated with mixed alluvial thicket, Combretum thicket, Combretum-Terminalia open woodland and mopane woodland.