Akapulko

Akapulko is the Philippine name for Senna alata, an important Neotropical medicinal tree and an ornamental flowering plant in the subfamily Caesalpinioideae, which was sometimes placed in a genus of its own, Herpetica. Its leaves close in the dark, and its upright yellow flower spike looks like a candle, which gives it names such as candle bush, candelabra bush and Christmas candles. The straight, dark brown to nearly black pods are winged along both sides and hold 50 to 60 flat, triangular seeds. In the Philippines it is grown as an ornamental and used as a medicine for its laxative, purgative and anti-fungal properties. Elsewhere it is called ringworm shrub, because the leaves, ground to a green pulp and mixed with an equal amount of vegetable oil, are rubbed on ringworm and other fungal skin infections. In Sri Lanka it is an ingredient in Sinhala traditional medicine, where it is called ath-thora.