Christmas Candle

Two weeks ago I was passing through a street in our neighbourhood.  I noticed these beautiful flowers in one plot with boundary wall and a little distance away along the boundaries of another plot.  The flowers were bright yellow, attractive and awesome.  This is the first time I have ever seen them.  I captured them with my mobile.  After coming home I did a reverse image search and came to know that it is native to Mexico but can be found growing in diverse habitat.  The plant belongs to the subfamily caesalpinoideae and Senna alata is its botanical name.  It has multiple common names - Candle bush, Emperor’s candle stick, Ringworm shrub, Empress Candle plant, Christmas candle, Candelabra bush or Candle tree. 

The plant grows as shrub but it can grow up to 1200m in tropics.

The plants I seen growing wild, 1-2m shrubs, with long leaves that close in the night.  The yellow flowers look like candle and are attractive.  The fruit is a straight pod.  The plant can be grown from the seeds.  The seeds are distributed by water and/or animals. Maybe, here the seeds are dropped by the birds and plant started growing wildly.    

This plant, grown as ornamental plant, also has medicinal properties.  The paste of ground leaves mixed with vegetable oil is used for treatment of fungal infection – ringworm.  It is also used as laxative.   

Do you know where is it seen commonly in India?