222 TAMARICACE^E. 



inconspicuous axillary flowers. The stems are usually 

 more or less tinged with red ; and when the plant grows 

 in places from which the water has been dried up, the 

 leaves acquire the same hue. Fl. July, August. 

 Annual. 



ORD. XXXL TAMAEICACE^:. THE TAMARISK 

 TRIBE. 



Calyx 4 5 parted, overlapping when in bud, remain- 

 ing after the petals have withered ; petals 4 5, from 

 the base of the calyx ; stamens either equal to the petals 

 in number, or twice as many, distinct, or united by their 

 filaments ; ovary not combined with the calyx ; styles 3 ; 

 capsule 3-valved, 1 -celled, containing many seeds, which 

 are tufted with down at the extremity. Mostly shrubs, 

 with rod-like branches and minute leaves, which re- 

 semble scales. They are found only in the eastern half 

 of the northern hemisphere, and are most numerous on 

 the shores of the Mediterranean ; but though preferring 

 the sea-side, they are not unfrequently found on the 

 banks of rivers, and occur, also, in the desert, especially 

 where the soil is impregnated with salt, as in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Mount Sinai, where a species of Tamarisk 

 very like the common one, produces a sugary sub- 

 stance, called by the Arabs Manna. The bark is astrin- 

 gent, and several species are remarkable for the large 

 quantity of sulphate of soda contained in their ashes, 

 and for the galls which they bear on their branches. 

 These are highly astringent, and are used both in 

 medicine and in dyeing. For a further account of the 

 Manna produced by the Tamarisk of Mount Siriai, see 

 " Forest Trees of Britain." 



1. TAMARIX (Tamarisk). Calyx 5-parted ; petals 5 ; 

 stamens 5 or 10 ^stigmas feathery. (Named from the 

 Tamarisci, a people who inhabited the banks of the 

 Tamaris, now Tambra, in Spain, where the Tamarisk 

 abounds.) 



