Is pure senna the same as cassia?

[christine1989]

I know there must be a thread that answers this question but I can't seem to find it so I'm asking myself; I have always wanted to try cassia on my hair and I have heard that it is just another name for senna. My mom currently has a barely used bottle of senna powder under the sink (don't ask why :uhh:) and I was wondering if it is the same as cassia. I don't want to accidentally use something that will ruin my hair so I figured I should consult the experts on LHC before jumping into it :).

[prosperina]

No it isn't. But it will work on your hair. I actually tried it about three years ago. I felt that it had a stronger dye than cassia. They both have chrysophanic acid, but the senna has more of it. I used it with honey and I didn't like the color. It was a funny brassy yellow. Hopefully this thread will get moved to the correct forum and more people will reply. There's something about this in the cassia thread too.

Edit: the consistency was really strange and hard to deal with too. Probably because I put too much honey in it, but it was also by itself odd feeling.

[CrisDee]

I've been using senna as the cassia in my henna/cassia mix for about a year now, and it works just fine, I noticed no difference between it and the "regular" cassia in my mix.

A word of warning, though - senna is a laxative (if you're not already aware of that), and some people have had the senna absorb through their scalp and cause a laxative effect. I have never had that problem, but things don't seem to absorb through my skin very easily.

[Anje]

Different species, same genus. Though the classification seems sketchy and in flux, as near as I can tell. Sometimes they're both in Cassia, other times they're both in Senna. Senna the laxative is typically Cassia angustifolia or C. acutifolia or Senna alexandrina, while the usual hair coloring is Cassia obovata or Senna italica.

As others have said, you can use the laxative if you wish. It works well and is often more available than C. obovata.

[ktani]

This may help, http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=294409&postcount=10.
"Senna or senna leaves are actually .... dried leaflets of two species of Cassia: C. senna L., known as Alexandria senna, and C. angustifolia Vahl .... Both plants .... small shrubs of the family Caesalpiniaceae. The former species grows along the Nile in Egypt and Sudan .... latter .... cultivated in southern and eastern India. Some authorities now consider both plants as belonging to a single species, Senna alexandrina Mill.; however .... distinct morphologic and histologic differences between the two species, so this revision .... not widely accepted by pharmacognosists."
http://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs_senna.htm