PlantFiles: Pink Shower, Pink Cassia, Pink Lady
Cassia javanica

I had success starting this tree from seeds I bought online and have had success with other cassia varieties including the marginata. I'm really bad at starting seeds, so for those with skill, these trees must be pretty forgiving. I did the nicking of seeds with sandpaper and then soaking in water. I have two, two foot trees now. I've not seen any of these trees growing in my Zone 9B St. Petersburg, but several close members of the family rated zone 10 thrive here.

Strikingly beautiful when in bloom; flowering starts in May and not very common in New Delhi.

I had originally planted three shrubs as 'cassia nodosa' at my country home and had to replace two as they died. The originals had pointed leaf tips, and the replacements I got have rounded leaves and developed small unimpressive flowers. This is some other variety of cassia. The number of leaflet pairs on both types of trees is up to 25.

C. javanica is said to have thorns on the trunk but the ones I have are thorn-free.

I planted one on Christmas Day 1977. The tree is now over 40' tall. The flowers are a lovely soft-pink fading to white and are clustered at the ends of leafy branches. Great success with propagating more from seed.

There are quite a few of them planted all around our County Building in Hilo. A beautiful sight when they are all in bloom.

The pink & white shower tree is popular in Hawaii, used for shade and street planting, it is beautiful when it flowers in June. Originally from Indonesia, it has been in Hawaii since at least 1870.