Tamarix.] IX. TAMAEISCINE^E. 23 



reddish brown or light grey, that of the larger branches and upper part of stem 

 dark bluish brown or dull grey, with a few dark brown scars and seams, that of 

 the lower part of the stem light grey or brownish grey, and rough with many close 

 deep longitudinal furrows and grooves, crossed by short shallow cracks. Except 

 the very young shoots in spring, the foliage of T. articulata is much more grey 

 and glaucous than that of the other species ; this, with its arborescent habit, dis- 

 tinguishes it readily. There is a variety in the Panjab with adpressed and 

 upright branches. 



Sapwood distinct, heartwood whitish, open, coarse-grained, with conspicuous 

 large white medullary rays. The weight varies from 40 to 60 lb. when seasoned, 

 it is fairly strong and durable. Used for many kinds of ordinary work, made 

 into ploughs, Persian wheels, and in Sindh is turned into small ornaments. 

 The green wood burns with an offensive odour ; when seasoned there is no smell, 

 and it is then a good fuel. 



The bark is employed for tanning ; the small irregularly-rounded tuberculate 

 galls {Mai, Panjab ; Sakun, Sindh), often abundantly produced on the branch- 

 lets by the. puncture of an insect, are used as a mordant in dyeing, and also in 

 tanning. Similar galls are collected from the two other species, and sold under 

 the same name. Tamarisk manna (Misri lei, sugar of Tamarisk) is produced on 

 the twigs by the puncture of an insect, in parts of the Panjab and in Sindh. 

 It is chiefly collected during the hot weather, and used medicinally or to adul- 

 terate sugar, will not keep more than a year, especially if exposed to damp. 

 Manna is also produced by the two other species in Sindh, and by T. gallica in 

 the Southern Panjab. 



2. MYRICARJA, Desvaux. 



Flowers bisexual, pink or white, in long racemes. Sepals 5, free. Petals 

 free. Stamens commonly 10, inserted on the disc, and more or less united 

 into a short tube. Ovary one-celled, with 3 sessile, more or less united, 

 stigmata ; ovules numerous, on short placentas at the bottom of the cavity. 

 Seeds numerous, small, with a long coma. 



1. M. germanica, Desv. Tab. VIII Hook, Fl. Ind. i. 250 ; Boissier 

 Fl. Orient, i. 763. Syn. M. bradeata, Eoyle 111. t. 44. Vern. Bis, shala- 

 Jcdt, kathi, humbu, hombu, umbu, ~N.W. Himalaya. 



A shrub; leaves sessile, linear-lanceolate, varying much in size, generally 

 crowded, less than J in. long. Racemes terminal or lateral, up to 12 

 in. long ; flowers pink, on short pedicels, crowded ; bracts longer than 

 pedicels, ovate-lanceolate, with broad membranous lacerated margins, cadu- 

 cous. Petals obovate, twice the length of sepals, white above, red below. 

 Stamens shorter than petals ; filaments united in tube. Seeds with a 

 stalked coma. 



Abundant in the inner, more arid parts of the Himalaya, from Iskardo to 

 Sikkim, at elevations between 5000 and 10,000, ascending occasionally to 

 15,000 ft. Beyond India, in Afghanistan, Western and Northern Asia, and in 

 the mountainous parts of Europe. Fl. July, Aug. ; the seed ripens soon 

 afterwards. Grows chiefly in sandy beds of streams, where it often covers 

 considerable areas, becoming a shrub of considerable size, massed in clumps, 

 peculiar and striking in its twiggy erect habit. A dwarf prostrate Alpine form 

 grows at great elevations. 



Young branches smooth, shining and striated ; bark of trunk dark grey, fibrous 

 and ragged. Foliage of a dull-greyish green colour, often covered by a saline 

 efflorescence. The wood is small, and used as fuel ; in Ladak the twigs are 

 browsed by goats and sheep. 



