Cassia Seed / Sickle Senna Seed / Fetid Cassia

OVERVIEW

What This Record Covers

Cassia Seed, called Jue Ming Zi, is the dried seed of Senna tora, also known as Cassia tora, an annual herb of the pea family (Fabaceae) that grows as a common weed in warm regions of Asia. The medicinal material is the flat, angular, dark brown seed with a distinctive shape, harvested, cleaned, and dried for use. In trade it appears as whole seeds, crushed seed, powder, tea bags, and combined formulas, and Cassia species have similar names, so the Latin source and the seed lot should be recorded. The seed is also a familiar roasted-tea ingredient in some regions.

English name

Cassia Seed / Sickle Senna Seed / Fetid Cassia

Latin name

Senna tora (L.) Roxb.（Cassia tora L.）

Traditional category

Vision Improving

Nature

Slightly Cold

Flavor description

Sweet, Bitter, Salty

Record identifier

juemingzi

IDENTIFICATION

Identification and Image Notes

The seeds are flat, angular, and dark brown with a distinctive rhomboid shape, and Cassia species have similar names, so the Latin source and the seed lot should be recorded. The dried seed is hard, glossy, and about half a centimeter long, with a characteristic four-sided, angular outline. The angular form is an orientation clue, but the species and the batch should be confirmed with the label, and roasted tea forms should be recorded separately from the raw seed.

Images are for orientation only, not definitive species authentication; confirm species, part, source, and labeling with a qualified professional or authoritative monograph.

TRADITIONAL CONTEXT

Traditional Use in Context

Traditional records discuss Cassia Seed for liver and eye language, bowel movement, wind-heat, and cooling downward action, and it appears in formulas aimed at eye discomfort, constipation, and heat-related presentations, often paired with Chrysanthemum Flower in eye combinations and with other moistening seeds in bowel formulas, and the roasted seed is a familiar tea ingredient. Classical texts describe it for clearing liver heat affecting the eyes and for moistening the bowels, always within a pattern-based framework. The eye vocabulary is historical, and eye symptoms and constipation may have causes that need clinical assessment rather than a traditional label. Sudden visual change, severe eye pain, or a change in bowel habit deserves medical evaluation.

PROCESSING CONTEXT

Raw Material, Processing, and Product Form

Raw and stir-fried seeds occur in traditional records, and powders and teas are common modern forms, while processing and concentration can change the bowel effect. Each form carries its own concentration record.

The same name can cover a raw material, decoction piece, powder, extract, or finished product, so record the labeled form rather than assuming it; see the safety review for the questions to ask.

COMPARISON

How This Entry Differs

Compare Cassia Seed with Celosia Seed and Buddleja Flower for eye language, while keeping seed species, bowel effects, and cooling strength separate. Cassia Seed is the only one of the three with a significant bowel-moving record. The roasted seed, which is drunk as an everyday tea in some regions, is yet another distinct product from the raw medicinal seed.

Use the related-entry links below to compare identity, part, processing, and safety boundaries — similar categories do not make materials interchangeable.

STUDY METHOD

New to these entries?

Read the four-step method in How to Read a Herb Entry before comparing materials.