136 LEGUMINOSAE. 
TAMARINDUS. Tamarind. 
(Family Leguminosae). 
Large round-topped rough- 
barked tropical tree: evergreen. 
Twigs rather slender, zig-zag, 
nearly terete: pith rather small, 
rounded, continuous. Buds soli- 
tary, sessile, triangular, with 2 or 
3 exposed brown scales, the end- 
bud lacking. Leaf-scars alternate, 
2-ranked, abruptly much elevat- 
ed, half-round: stipule vestiges or 
scars more or less evident at top 
of the leaf-cushion. Leaves ab- 
ruptly pinnate with about a dozen 
pairs of inequilateral entire leaf- 
lets. Fruit, when present, a short 
legume with acid pulp surround- 
ing the few seeds. 
The tamarind is sometimes 
planted as an avenue tree in trop- 
ical countries, and its round top 
' and dense fleecy foliage make it 
unusually effective for this use. 
Like the chick-pea, its foliage is reputed to produce an 
acid which renders the dew or rain that drips from them, 
or water that stands on them after they have fallen, so ex- 
tremely caustic as to disintegrate fabrics on which it falls; 
and the Hindus are said to be afraid to sleep under the trees. 
Twigs dull brown, sparingly soft-hairy. T. indica. 
