Its scientific name is Cassia Alata. And because its medicinal uses are varied across cultures, it is also commonly known as the Candle Bush, Gelenggang in Malay or Akapulko in Philippines.
I've been nicknaming this plant "Iron-Fan princess" because the shape of its leaves resembled that of the Iron-Fan pricess' magical Iron Fan in the chinese folklore of fairies known as Journey to the West where the mischievous Monkey King dealt with devils & evil spirits who were hankering after the flesh of his guru, Tripitaka.
As the plant produces alot of nectar, it attracts many huge red ants who were eager to get a share of food.
For the plant to survive, it requires plenty of sunlight to flourish. The photograph below shows a picture of a spray of flower that stands tall on the top of its plant.
For more information about the plant, please visit the following website:
http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/plants/candlesticks.htm
Please allow me to share my experience with this plant. I had a strong & long-standing affinity with this plant as far back as in the 1980s. As a child, my skin had been frequently plagued with problematic skin. My feet would break out in blistered-like rashes & itch throughout the day. The skin on my feet didn't just break out in sores during childhood but the skin started peeling to the extent that it became scaly.
Dermatologists were consulted but the condition couldn't be cured. In fact, the condition was making its way upwards from my foot soles all the way up to my ankles. To sum it up, my feet was not only gruesome looking but it was rotting with a bad stench!
It was during a fateful trips to one of the dermoatologists in a private hospital where the adults in the family chanced upon an old aunty whose also a patient. She told my parents to visit her bungalow as she had a plant that could cure my skin condition.
As we were all driven out of desperation, we accepted our invitation & drove up to her place. That was the very first time when we got to know all about this miraculous plant known as the Seven Golden Candlesticks.
Method:
The old aunty cut down about 5 stalks of leaves from her plant & my grandma rinsed them in water prior to boiling them in a metal pot of water. Once the leaves were boiled & cooked, you will notice that the "soup" is a shade of green.
The "soup" is then transferred into a huge aluminium of enamel-coated basin. While the liquid is still hot after boiling, I would force my feet into the basin & I assure you that this procedure should be done at every user's discretion. My threshold for heat is pretty high. Needless to say, it still hurts a big deal!
However, I must say that the "soup" of this Seven Golden Candlesticks works best when it is still hot (not lukewarm) because the hot temperature seemed to have a catalytic effect on curing the stubborn skin condition for my feet.
When my condition was extremely bad in the beginning, there was a stinging sensation during the feet soak. It hurt so badly that it felt like there were thousands of ants biting into those freakish rashes.
The colour of the "soup" gradually changed from a greenish shade to brown! This feet soaking ritual went on everyday for a period of 6 months before all the rashes were completely gone.
And I continued with the feet soak for another 6 months because all in the family were fearful that the skin condition might just relapse.
The results were remarkable becox not only did the skin on my feet heel, the skin texture looks good too!
This is a humble photograph of the current condition of my feet after a painstaking effort of adopting an intense feet soak using the "soup" of 7 Golden Candlesticks & I am extremely grateful to the old aunty who recommended us this plant & shared with us the remedy. God bless her for her kindness!
So for those of you out there who are lucky enough to own a home garden outside your landed property, I would highly recommend that you groom such a plant - but of course, you've got to be mentally prepared for a huge battle with those giant red ants!
Here's a photograph of a giant red ant getting itself transferred from the plant to the wooden shade nearby :
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