402 DICTIONARY OF POPULAR NAMES TAMARISK 



Tamarisk Salt Tree {Tamarix oriental is), native of North- 

 West India. It is a most remarkable tree, and of rapid growth. 

 Trees six or seven years old measure 5 feet in girth, and fall in 

 twenty years from old age. It contains much salt, with which 

 the tree becomes incrusted, and is used by the natives to season 

 their food. The wood when burned has a very offensive odour. 

 In the Punjab T. articulata attains a height of 60 feet. On 

 the banks of the Jordan and hilly country of Bashan T. Pallasii 

 forms graceful trees, which by some Bible commentators are 

 supposed to be the oak under which Saul and Jonathan were 

 buried. 



Tanekaha, the native ISTew Zealander's name for Fliyllodadus 

 trichoinanoidcs, a tree of the Yew family (Taxaceae). It attains 

 a height of 40 to 50 feet, and a girth or circumference of 

 2 feet. The bark is plain and of a light colour ; it comes off in 

 rings of about 6 inches. The leaves in the young plants are very 

 small and parsley-like, but in the mature plant they entirely 

 disappear, the terminal brandies becoming flat and leaf-like. 

 Its wood is somewhat darker than that of the Kauri, it has a 

 closer grain, smells strongly of turpentine, is less affected by wet 

 than any other yew, and is an exceedingly valuable wood. It 

 is used for all kinds of outside work. 



Tanghin. {Sec Ordeal Tree.) 



Tangle. (See Facus.) 



Tansy {Tanacetum vulgare), a strong-growing perennial of 

 the Composite family (Compositse), having finely-cut leaves, and 

 heads of yellow button-like flowers, native of this country. 

 The whole plant has a strong aromatic scent and a bitter taste, 

 which led it to be considered as possessing highly medicinal 

 properties ; it is prescribed by herb doctors. 



Tapa Cloth. {See Paper ]\Iulberry.) 



Tapioca. {See Cassava.) 



Tar is the concrete resinous sap of Fir and Pine trees 

 (which see). It is obtained by a rough system of distillation, 

 which is effected as follows : — The boles, roots, branches, and 

 waste timber are cut up into billets ; a conical hole is dug in the 



