[suh-grey-duh, -grah-, -grad-uh] 
| cascara sa·gra·da (sə-grä'də) n. The dried bark of the cascara buckthorn, used as a laxative. [American Spanish cáscara sagrada : Spanish cáscara, bark + Spanish sagrada, sacred.] |
cascara sagrada
(Spanish: "sacred bark"), the dried bark of the buckthorn Rhamnus purshiana (order Rosales) used in medicine as a laxative. The tree is cultivated in North America and Kenya. Cascara sagrada is prepared in both liquid and solid forms. The activity apparently results from the combined action of several substances, a number of which have been isolated; they consist chiefly of anthraquinones.
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