Cassia sieberiana is a small to medium African tree known for its bright yellow flowers and multiple medicinal uses, including analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and purgative applications.
The West African laburnum or drumstick tree (Cassia sieberiana, family Fabaceae) is a deciduous shrub or small tree with a low-branching crown, usually 2 to 12 metres tall and recorded up to 20 metres. It is often gathered from the wild for traditional medicine, and its bark and roots are commonly sold in local markets; the pods are traded locally, especially as a remedy for worms. It is often planted as an ornamental and avenue tree for its showy yellow flowers, which open while the tree is leafless. In Côte d'Ivoire and Nigeria the roots and seeds are used as a fish poison.
It grows in West and Central Africa from Senegal and Gambia east to DR Congo and Uganda, in wooded grassland and savanna, secondary bush, gallery forest, thickets, wet places in savanna and on roadsides, lateritic soils and sandstone plateaux. It thrives best in savanna with 800 mm of rain a year or less, in full sun on deep, well-drained, acid sandy soil, and it responds well to coppicing. It is one of the trees of Sahelian fallows, but unlike the locust bean (nune) and the shea tree it is cut out when land is cleared. Although it is a legume, its roots do not form nodules and do not fix nitrogen. Fresh seed germinates almost completely, while older seed needs soaking first; passing through the gut of cattle also speeds germination.
Source: Useful Tropical Plants database (Fern, K.).
Roots, bark, leaves, and pods treat constipation, rheumatism, arthritis, backache, stomach disorders, ulcers, diarrhea, malaria, fever, skin diseases, wounds, leprosy, venereal diseases, menstrual pain, sterility, and sleeping sickness.
Sweet yellow pulp around seeds is edible; seeds are occasionally consumed after proper preparation to reduce tannins.
Used in traditional magic/religious rituals; root wood serves as chewsticks; timber is hard, heavy, termite-resistant; leaves provide fodder for cattle.
Thrives in tropical, semi-arid, and savanna regions; prefers sunny, well-drained soils (sandy, loamy, clayey, lateritic, or rocky); requires full sun; medium growth rate; propagated by seeds (requiring pretreatment) or coppicing.