Family: Fabaceae
Cassia javanica (pink shower tree) is a beautiful tree with a spreading grown that puts on glorious floral displays. Native to the island of Java, Indonesia, as the species name suggests. A nitrogen-fixing plant, Cassia javanica is a fast grower. Its unobtrusive roots and robust growth in the full sun make it a perfect parking lot or street tree. Excessive branching and odd growth require a medium amount of maintenance to achieve a desirable shape. Leaves are briefly shed right before flowering. But this characteristic makes for a striking display. Pink aromatic flowers are born in clusters and are often visited by pollinators. It can tolerate heavy winds and a moderate amount of salt spray. Flowering occurs in the Spring and Summer.
Plant Uses:
- Container plant
- Fragrant
- Medicinal
- Nitrogen fixer
- Ornamental
- Privacy / screening
- Shade
- Specimen
- Windbreak
- Woodworking
Plant Dangers:
- No dangers
High Risk Traits:
- Climate match: Highly suited to tropical/subtropical climates.
- Naturalization: Documented as naturalized outside native range.
- Human dispersal: Widely planted as an ornamental/roadside tree.
- Shade tolerant: Can establish in understory conditions.
- Nitrogen fixer: Legume that alters soil chemistry.
- Hybridizes: Forms hybrids with related species.
- Seed bank: Produces dormant, long-lived seeds.
- Animal dispersal: Seeds survive gut passage and are spread by animals.
Low Risk Traits:
- Not weedy: No evidence of being an agricultural or environmental weed.
- Limited versatility: Narrow climate and altitude range.
- No defenses: Lacks spines, toxins, or allelopathy.
- Not a pest host: No significant known pests or pathogens.
- No vegetative spread: Reproduces only by seed.
- Slow maturation: Takes 4+ years to reach reproductive age.
- Low unintentional spread: Seeds lack adaptations for wind/water dispersal.
- Not prolific: Seed production not excessively high.
