Cassia (legume)

Cassia (legume)

Cassia is a genus of Fabaceae in the subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Commonly called cassias, "cassia" is also the English name of Cinnamomum aromaticum in the Lauraceae (from which the spice cassiabark is derived), and some other species of Cinnamomum. In addition, the genus Cassia was for long ill-delimited with regards to the related Cassiinae - especially Senna -, many species of which were once placed herein. As a rule-of-thumb, Cassia sensu stricto contains the largest Cassiinae, usually mid-sized trees.

In Antiquity, "cassia" - kasía (κασία), qəṣi`â (קסיה), etc. - usually meant certain local or widely traded Cinnamomum species. For details, see Cassia.