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Senna alata
Also called Candle Bush, Candelabra Bush, Empress Candle Plant, Golden Candlestick, Christmas Candle, Ringworm Bush, Candlebush
In Singapore: Candle Bush, Empress Candle Plant, Seven Golden Candlesticks, Candlestick Cassia, Candlestick Senna, Christmas Candle, Ringworm Cassia, Ringworm Bush, Gelenggang, Daun Kurap, 翅荚决明 (Grown in Singapore)
Senna alata is a fast-growing Neotropical shrub or small tree, grown for its tall yellow candle-like flower spikes and used in traditional medicine. It is easy to grow from seed in warm, sunny, frost-free conditions.
Senna alata is an important Neotropical medicinal tree, as well as an ornamental flowering plant in the subfamily Caesalpinioideae. It also known as emperor's candlesticks, candle bush, candelabra bush, Christmas candles, empress candle plant, ringworm shrub, Roman candle, or candletree. A remarkable species of Senna, it was sometimes separated in its own genus, Herpetica.
This species is easy to grow from the seed. They may either be sown directly or started in a nursery.
Senna alata (also known as Cassia alata) is often called the ringworm bush because of its very effective fungicidal properties, for treating ringworm and other fungal infections of the skin. The leaves are ground in a mortar to obtain a kind of "green cotton wool". This is mixed with the same amount of vegetable oil and rubbed on the affected area two or three times a day. A fresh preparation is made every day. Its active ingredients include the yellow chrysophanic acid.
Alexandrian senna · Silver senna · Matara Tea · Christmasbush · Argentine senna · African senna · American senna · Port Royal senna · False sicklepod · Java-bean · Senna odorata · Valamuerto
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Senna alata by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
