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Cassia grandis
Cassia grandis, one of several species called pink shower tree, and known as carao in Spanish, is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to the neotropics, that grows up to 30 m (98 ft).[1] The species is distributed from southern México, to Venezuela and Ecuador. It grows in forests and open fields at lower elevations, and is known to be planted as an ornamental.[2] In at least Costa Rica, its pods are stewed into a molasses-like syrup, taken as a sweetener and for its nutritional and medicinal effects, called Jarabe (or Miel) de Carao. GrowthThe tree's leaves are pinnate and deciduous, with 8-20 pairs of leaflets of 3–5 cm (1–2 in).[1][3] During the dry season, the tree sheds its old leaves, giving way to racemes of pastel pink flowers. The long, wood-like fruit capsules reach lengths of up to 50 cm (20 in) and have many seeds, which are separated by resinous membranes that taste somewhat like carob.[1] Laravae of two bruchid beetle species (Pygiopachymerus lineola and Zabrotes interstitialis) feed on the seeds and provide access to moths whose larvae feed on the pulp.[4] The holes they make in them A pair of scientists have speculated that now extinct ground sloths and gomphotheres are the fruit around and the seeds and helped with dispersal.[5] References
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