Tamarindus
(from the Arabic, tamr, a ripe date, and Hind, India; literally, Indian Date). ORD. Leguminosae. A monotypic genus. The species is a large, stove, unarmed tree. Its medicinal virtues, as far as the fruits are concerned, are well known. The bark, wood, leaves, and flowers are all economically valuable. A compost of fibrous loam and sand is most suited to the requirements of T. indica. Seeds, which are annually imported from the East and West Indies, should be sown on a hotbed, and the young plants, when about 3in. high, inserted singly in pots. Cuttings also root readily in sand, under a glass, in heat.
T. indica (Indian). Tamarind-tree. fl. few together in copious, lax racemes at the ends of the branchlets; petals yellow, striped with red, less than 1/2in. long, only the three upper ones developed; pedicels articulated at the base of the calyx. June and July. fr., pods 3in. to 6in. by 1in. or more, three to ten-seeded, ligulate. l. abruptly pinnate, with twenty to forty close, opposite, oblong, obtuse, glabrescent leaflets. h. 40ft. to 60ft. Tropics (probably indigenous in Africa), 1633. (B. F. S. 184; B. M. Pl. 92). SYNS. T. occidentalis, T. officinalis (B. M. 4563). The West Indian pods are generally shorter than those grown in the East Indies.
T. occidentalis (Western). A synonym of T. indica.
T. officinalis (officinal). A synonym of T. indica.