46 XIII. TAMAEICACE^E [Tamarix 



■ A glaucous gregarious shrub or small tree, wood reddish. Leaves minute, 

 not sheathing, apex acute, patent or loosely appressed. Fl. mostly bisexual, 

 pentamerous, white or pink, crowded in long slender spikes collected in dense 

 panicles at the ends of branches and forming large irregular masses of flower. 

 Bracts shorter than fl. Disk slightly 5- or 10-crenate, filaments not dilated 

 at base, styles short, stigma often almost sessile. Capsule ^ in. long, more 

 than twice the length of the withered sepals supporting it. 



From western Tibet, where it ascends to 11,000 ft., following the Indus and its main 

 tributaries through the Punjab and Sind. Western Peninsula in sandy river beds 

 and on the sea coast. Fl. Aug.-Feb. Ceylon, on the coast in the drier districts. 

 Widely distributed in the countries round the Mediterranean, through western and 

 northern Asia, to China and Japan. Fuirz, F. Fl. i. 83, gives this species from Pegu. 

 I have not seen specimens. Boxburgh's spiecies T. indica may have to be restored. 

 See Niedenzu de genere Tarnarice, Braunsberg, 1895. 2. T. saliua, Dyer, Salt range, 

 Punjab, differs by broader leaves, and filaments dilated at base. 



3. T. dioica, Eoxb.; Brand. F. Fl. t. 6. Vern. Lei, Pilchi, Pb. ; Jhau, 

 Oudh ; Byaung-chedauk, Upper Burma. 



A glaucous gregarious shrub. Leaves sheathing, sheath tubular, apex 

 acuminate, closely appressed, with a broad white margin. Fl. dioecious, 

 pentamerous, purple or light pink, in stiff compact cylindrical pedunculate 

 spikes often forming loose panicles at the ends of branches. Bracts as long as, 

 or nearly as long as, flowers. $ : Stamens alternating with the 5 lobes of the 

 fleshy disk, anthers distinctly apiculate. ? : 5 thin linear staminodia, styles 

 filiform, thickened at the end, longer than ovary. Capsule ^ in. long, about 

 twice the length of the withered sepals and petals at its base. 



Throughout northern India, ascending to 2,500 ft. in the outer Himalaya. Sind, 

 Western Peninsula, Bengal, Assam. Burma, dry region of the Irawaddi valley, chiefly 

 on sandbanks in river beds. Fl. May-October. 



4. T. articulata, Vahl ; Brand. F. Fl. t. 7.— Syn. T. orientalis, Forsk. 

 Vern. Farash, Pb. ; Asrelei, Sind. 



A middle-sized tree with an erect trunk, frequently 6-7 ft. in girth, wood 

 white, branchlets articulate at base of sheath, often grey with saline efflorescence. 

 Leaves sheathing, sheath Jg in. long, obliquely truncate., apex triangular, 

 acute, appressed. Sheath and apex with impressed glands. Fl. bisexual or 

 monoecious, loosely scattered on long slender spikes, which are generally 

 collected at the ends of branches in loose panicles. Bracts shorter than fl. 

 Disk entire or indistinctly o-lobed. Capsule |- in. long. 



Punjab, ascending to 1,200 ft., extending east to the Jumna. Upper and Middle 

 Sind. Grows well on saline soils. The extremities of branchlets and the leaves on 

 older branchlets are shed during the cold season, new shoots and leaves come out about 

 May. Fl. May to September. A variety in the Punjab with upright branches. Afghan- 

 istan, western Asia, Egypt, and Somaliland. 



B. Stamens 10. 



5. T. ericoides, Rottl. — Syn. Trichaurus ericoides, Wight et Am. ; Wight 

 111. t. 24, B. Ic. 22. Vern. Jhaura, Merwara; Jao, sarub, sarata, Mar. ; Shushar, 

 Pangi, Lahaue. 



A beautiful shrub or small tree. Leaves amplexicaul, hardly sheathing, 

 ovate-lanceolate, acuminate. Fl. larger than any of the others, T 5 g- in. long, 

 heath-like, pale pink, at times white, on short pedicels, in crowded terminal 

 spike-like racemes. Disk 10-lobed, alternate stamens shorter. Capsule i in. 

 long. 



Western Peninsula in the beds of rivers, extending north to the western foot of the 

 Aravalli hills, to Behar and Bengal. Fl. Sept.-Dec. 6. T. stricta, Boiss. Sind, covered 

 with greyish-white dry and tasteless powder. Leaves sheathing, almost truncate, covered 

 with round white elevated dots. 



