In article , wrote:
In article , Phred wrote:
one of the younger blokes decided the sticky black pulp around the
seeds of what we called "cascara bean" [actually _Cassia fistula_, the
Golden Shower tree] was edible.

Oh dear. "Liquid cascara" (a tincture, presumably) was a well known
laxative in Britain some years ago.

I wonder if that was the "cascara" referred to he
http://www.wholehealthmd.com/refshel...,1525,10013,00.
html

quoting from Google
What Is It? Cascara sagrada is a natural laxative made from the
reddish-brown bark of a tree (Rhamnus purshiana) native to the Pacific
Northwest.
/quoting
[ It seems to be _Frangula purshiana_ now according to the ARS-GRIN
Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases. See:
http://sun.ars-grin.gov:8080/npgspub...duke/plantdisp.
xsql?taxon=2217 ]

You will get lots of hits to a similar product if you google for:
cascara laxative

There don't seem to be similar commercial products from the _Cassia_
that I noticed, though the page I previously mentioned
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Cassia_fistula.html
lists a lot of applications under "Folk Medicine".

Cheers, Phred.

--
LID