Tas. 4563. 
TAMARINDUS  oFFIcINAaLtis. 
Tamarind-tree. 
’ Nat. Ord. Lecumrnos®.—MonapELPHIA DECANDRIA. 
Gen. Char. Calycis sepala 5, basi in tubum coalita, superne libera, reflexa, 3 
oblonga, 2 inferiora in lobum unicum latius binervosum sepe apice bidentatum 
connata. Petala 3, cum sepalis superioribus alterna, 2 ovata, medio cucullata. 
Stamina 9-10, 2-3 longiora inter se monadelpha, antherifera, 7 brevissima, 
sterilia. Stylus subulatus. Legumen pedicellatum, acinaciforme, compressum, 
uniloculare, 3-6-spermum, valvis inter epispermium et endospermium pulposis. 
Semen ad hilum oblique truncatum, ovato-quadratum. _ Cotyledones basi in- 
eequales.—Arbores. Folia abrupta, pinnata, multijuga. Flores racemosi. DC. 
Tamanrinows Indica. 
a. leguminibus elongatis, latitudine nempe sextuplo et ultra longioribus, 8—12- 
spermis. DC. 
Tamartnpus Indica. Linn. Sp. Pl. p.48. (excl. Syn. Loefl.) Roxb. Fi. Ind. 
v.3.p.215. De Cand. Prodr. v. 2. pe 488. Wight et Arn, Fl. Penins. 
Ind. Or. v..1. p. 285. Woodv. Med. Bot. t. 166. Spreng. Syst. Veget. v. 3. 
p.158. Lindl. Med. Bot. p. 266. 
8. leguminibus abbreviatis, latitudine nempe vix triplo longioribus. DC. 
Tamantnpvus occidentalis, Gaertn. Fruct. v. 2. p.310. ¢.146. Jacq. Amer. 
p. 10. 4.10. § 4.179. f.98. De Cand. Prodr. v. 2. p. 489. M‘Fad. Fl. 
Jam, v. 1. p. 335. 
Most authors make two species of Zamarindus,the Indian 
kind, with long pods, and the West Indian, with short pods : 
but even those who adopt this view of the subject generally raise 
a question of their specific identity. India is probably the ab- 
original country of both, whence the species was introduced to 
Western India. Even in the East the Tamarinds of the Archipelago 
are considered the best of those of India. The Arabs called the 
tree “ Tamr hindee,” or Indian Date, from which has been derived 
the generic name Zamarindus. Our small Tamarind-tree, in the 
Royal Gardens, about fourteen feet high, whence our flowering 
specimens were taken, is probably the West Indian variety, 
and can give no idea of the general appearance of a full-grown 
tree, which all travellers agree in saying is one of the noblest 
FEBRUARY Ist, 1851. 
