Acacia farnesiana (L.) Willd.
Family Mimosaceae.
English Name : Cassie Flower, Cassie Absolute, Sweet Acacia.
Ayurvedic Name : Arimeda, Vitkhadira.
Unani Vilaayati Kikar, Gandbabuul, Guyaa Babuul, Durgandh Khair.
Siddha/Tamil Name : Kastuurivel, Veddayala.
Mimosa bush, Needle bush, Cassie flower, Fragrant acacia, Ironwood, Sweet acacia, Sweet wattle • Hindi Name :: गुह बबूल Guh baboool, Gukikar, Gandh babool • Manipuri: Chigong lei • Marathi: गुकीकर Gukikar • Telugu Name :: Nagatumma • Kannada: Kasturigibbali • Hindi Name :: ગંધેલો બબૂલ Gandhelo babul• Oriya: Kapur • Tamil Name :: Kadivel, கஸ்தூரிவேல் Kasthurivel, பீக்கருவேல் Pikkaruvel • Assamese: তৰুৱা কদম Tarua kadam • Bengali: Guyababula
Morphology
Shrubs or small trees, 2-4 m tall. Bark brown, rough. Branches numerous; branchlets zigzag, with small lenticels. Leaves 2-7 cm; stipules spinelike, spines 1-2 cm, shorter on short branchlets; leaf rachis villous, glandular; pinnae 4-8 pairs, axillary, 1.5-3.5 cm in diam.; leaflets 10-20 pairs, linear-oblong, 2-6 × 1-1.5 mm, glabrous. Heads 1-3, axillary, 1-1.5 cm in diam.; peduncles 1-3 cm, hairy; bracts at or near tip of peduncle. Flowers yellow, fragrant. Calyx ca. 1.5 mm, 5-toothed. Corolla ca. 2.5 mm, 5-toothed. Stamens ca. 2 × as long as corolla. Ovary cylindric, puberulent. Legume brown, straight or curved, turgid, subcylindric, 3-7 cm × 8-15 mm, glabrous, scarcely dehiscent, filled with a pith separating seeds from each other. Seeds several, brown, ovoid, ca. 6 mm.
Medicinal Uses :
Bark—astringent, demulcent, anthelmintic, antidysenteric, anti-inflammatory (used in stomatitis, ulcers, swollen gums, dental caries, bronchitis, skin diseases).
Ripe pods contain tannins and several polyphenolic compounds. Essential oil from pods—direct muscle relaxant, cardiac depressant and sedative.
Various plant parts are used in insanity, epilepsy, delirium and convulsions.
The ethanolic extract of unripe pods yields a glycosidal fraction (0.28%) which exhibits anti-inflammatory activity. It also shows significant antibacterial activity.
The plant acts as an antiseptic agent for curing sores, gums and loose teeth.
The flowers are the source of Cassie perfume.
The main constituents of the flowers are benzyl, anisic, decylic and cuminic aldehydes, as well as traces of geraniol, farnesol and linalool.
