T AM 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



TA M 



645 



can, with orange-coloured flowers. 5. Sweet-scented Afri- 

 can. Parkinson remarks, that the flower "is of the very 

 smell of new wax, or of an honeycomb, and not of that poi- 

 sonfull scent of the smaller kindes." Native of Mexico. See 

 the preceding species. 



3. Tagetes Minuta; Small-flowered Chili Marygold. Stem 

 simple, upright; peduncles scaly, many-flowered. This grows 

 taller than either of the former. The peduncles stand erect, 

 close to the stem, and sustain three or four white flowers, 

 which appear very late in autumn. This plant has very little 

 beauty, and is preserved only for the sake of variety. See the 

 fourth species. Supposed to be a native of South America. 



4. Tagetes Rotundifolia. Stem simple, upright; leaves 

 cordate, simple; peduncles naked, one-flowered; flower large 

 and yellow. Found at Vera Cruz. 



5. Tagetes Elongata; Long-stalked American Marygold. 

 Stem erect, nearly simple ; leaves pinnate ; leaflets linear, 

 serrated at the end; stalks single-flowered, elongated, slightly 

 swelling. Roots annual ; stem three to six inches high ; flower 

 deep yellow. Native of South America. 



6. Tagetes Lucida; Sweet Chili Marygold. Leaves simple, 

 finely serrated ; panicle corymbose. Root perennial; stem 

 erect, two feet high, round, striated, leafy, smooth, branched 

 in the upper part; leaves about two inches long, opposite, 

 smooth, veiny, full of pellucid do-ts; panicle level-topped, 

 many-flowered ; flowers of a golden yellow, agreeably scent- 

 ed. Native of New Spain. It is in some degree hardy, and 

 will endure our ordinary winters with a slight degree of pro- 

 tection. 



Tallow Tree. See Croton. 



Tamarindus; a genus of the class Monadelphia, order 

 Triandria, according to Schreber ; of the class Triandria, 

 order Monogynia, according to Linneus. GENERIC CHA- 

 RACTER. Calix : perianth one-leafed; tube turbinate, com- 

 pressed, attenuated below, permanent; mouth oblique; border 

 four-parted, deciduous ; segments ovate, acute, flatfish, re- 

 flexed, coloured; the upper and lower a little wider. Corolla: 

 petals three, ovate, concave, acute, crenate, waved, reflexed, 

 length of the calix, inserted into the mouth of the tube; the 

 two lateral ones a little larger. Stamina: filamenta three, in- 

 serted into the orifice of the calix at the void sinus, length of 

 the corolla, awl-shaped, united below up to the middle, bowed 

 towards the corolla ; antherae ovate, incumbent, large. There 

 are besides seven rudimenta of stamina, five of them setace- 

 ous threads alternate with the filamenta, and united below, 

 but separate above, headed, very short; the two lateral ones 

 lower than the others; and two minute bristles springing 

 from the calix below the filamenta, and incumbent on them. 

 Pistil: germen oblong, compressed, curved in, placed on a 

 pedicel fastened to the bottom of the calix, and growing 

 longitudinally to its tube under the back beyond the tube, 

 with the upper margin villose; style awl-shaped, ascend- 

 ing, pubescent on the lower margin, a little longer than the 

 stamina; stigma thickened, obtuse. Pericarp: legume ob- 

 long, compressed, blunt, with a point, swelling at the seeds, 

 covered with a double rind, the outer dry and brittle, the 

 inner membranaceous; a soft pulp between both; one-celled, 

 not opening. Seeds : few, angular-roundish, plano-com- 

 ressed, shining, hard. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: 

 aur-parted. Petals : three. Nectary : of two short bristles 



nder the filamenta. Legume: pulpy within. The only 



nown species is, 



1. Tamarindus Indica; Tamarind Tree. Leaves pinnate, 

 composed of sixteen or eighteen pairs of leaflets, without a 

 single one at the end ; they are about half an inch long, and the 

 tixth of an inch broad, of a bright green, a little hairy, and 



sit close to the midrib. The flowers come from the side of the 

 branches, five, six, or more together, in loose bunches. The 

 stem is lofty, and of considerable thickness, covered with a 

 brown bark; and divides into many branches at the top, 

 spreading wide every way. The calix is straw-coloured; and 

 the petals yellowish, beautifully variegated with red veins. 

 The timber of this tree is heavy, firm, and hard : it is sawn 

 into boards, and applied to many useful purposes in building. 

 The use of the fruit was first taught by the Arabians: it con- 

 tains a larger proportion of acid, with a saccharine matter, 

 than is usually found in the acid dulcet fiuits, and is there- 

 fore not only employed as a laxative, but also in abating thirst 

 and heat in various inflammatory complaints, and for correct- 

 ing putrid disorders, especially those of a bilious kind, in 

 which the cathartic, antiseptic, and refringent qualities of this 

 fruit, have been found equally useful. When intended merely 

 as a laxative, it maybe of advantage to join with it manna or 

 purgatives of a sweet kind, by which its use is rendered safer 

 and more effectual. Three drachms of the pulp are usually 

 sufficient to open the body ; but to render it moderately cathar- 

 tic, one or two ounces are required. The leaves are sometimes 

 used in subacid infusions, and a decoction of them is said to 

 destroy worms in children. The fruit is frequently made an 

 ingredient in punch in the West Indies; and, mixed with a 

 decoction of Borage, is reputed excellent in allaying the heat 

 of urine. Native of Egypt, Arabia, and of both Indies. Pro- 

 pagation and Culture. Sow the seeds on a hot-bed in the 

 spring, and, when the plants are come up, plant each in a 

 separate small pot filled with light rich earth, and plunge 

 them into a hot-bed of tanners' bark, to bring them forward, 

 observing to water and shade them until they have taken root; 

 and as the earth in the pots appears dry, they must be watered 

 from time to time, and require air in proportion to the warmth 

 of the season, and of the bed in which they are placed. As 

 soon as the pots become filled with their roots, remove them 

 into pots of a larger size, filled with rich light earth. Plunge 

 these again into the hot-bed, giving them air as before, accord- 

 ing to the warmth of the season; but in very hot weather the 

 glasses should be shaded with mats in the heat of the day, 

 otherwise the sun will be too violent for them through the 

 glasses; nor will the plants thrive when exposed to the open 

 air even in the warmest season. Hence they must be con- 

 fined in the bark-stove both summer and winter, treating 

 them as has been directed for the Coffee-tree, with whose 

 culture they will thrive exceeding well. 



Tamarix; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Trigynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth five-parted; 

 segments obtuse, erect, permanent, shorter by half than the 

 corolla. Corolla: petals five, ovate, concave, obtuse, spread- 

 ing. Stamina: filamenta five, capillary ; antherae roundish. 

 Pistil: germen acuminate; style none; stigmas three, oblong, 

 revolute, feathered. Pericarp : capsule oblong, acuminate, 

 three-sided, longer than the calix, one-celled, three-valved. 

 Seeds: numerous, very small, pappose. Observe. The fourth 

 species has ten stamina, of which the alternate outer ones are 

 shorter'; they are all connate at the base. ESSENTIAL CHA- 

 RACTER. Calix : five-parted. Petals: five. Capsule : one- 

 celled, three-valved. Seeds: with a feathery crown. The 



species are, 



1. Tamarix Gallica; French Tamarisk. Flowers five- 

 stamined ; spikes lateral ; leaves lanceolate, embracing, im- 

 bricate. This is a very elegant shrub, very much branched, 

 and shading the banks of rivers. There are several reputed 

 varieties, which Willdenow thinks will prove distinct species. 

 The Russians and Tartars use a decoction of the twigs in the 

 gout and rheumatism, and contusions of the limbs, as a 



