DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 383 



Tamarind, Manila. 



Name in India for Pithecolobium dulce. 

 Tamarindo (Philippines) . See Tamarindus indica. 



Tamarindus indica. Tamakind. Plate lxvi. 



Family Caesalpiniaceae. 



Local names. — Kamalindo (Guam); Sampalok, Sambalagui, Sambag, Sam- 

 bagui, Tamarindo (Philippines). 



An introduced tree with spreading branches and beautiful foliage, bearing pods 

 containing seeds surrounded by an acid pulp of pleasant flavor. Leaves abruptly 

 pinnate, with 20 to 40 glabrescent, close, obtuse, opposite, oblong leaflets; flowers 

 few together, in copious lax racemes at the end of the branchlets; pedicels articulated 

 at the base of the calyx; bracts boat-shaped, inclosing the buds, caducous; calyx 

 tube top-shaped, the disk produced some distance above its base; teeth lanceolate, 

 much imbricated, the lowest 2 connate; only the 3 upper petals developed, the 2 

 lateral ovate, the upper hooded, 12 mm. long, yellow striped with red, the 2 

 lower petals reduced to scales; stamens monadelphous. only 3 developed,. the others 

 reduced to bristles at the top of the sheath; ovary many-ovuled, with a stalk adnate 

 to the calyx tube; style filiform, stigma capitate; pod 5 to 15 cm. by 2.5 cm. or more, 

 3 to 10-seeded, with a thin crustaceous epicarp and a thick pulpy mesocarp. 



The acid pulp makes a very pleasant, cooling drink when mixed with water and 

 sweetened. In India it is a favorite ingredient of curries and chutneys, and the seeds 

 are eaten by the natives, the outer skin being first removed by roasting or soaking, 

 and the seed then boiled or fried. They are also made into a flour after being dried 

 and ground. The tender seedlings are eaten as a vegetable, and the leaves and 

 flowers are also eaten. Nearly every part of this tree is utilized in India, and it 

 plays an important part in the economy of the natives. The wood is highly prized, 

 but is hard to work. It is used for mallets, rice pounders, wheels, etc. The leaves, 

 flowers, and fruit are used as mordants in dyeing; and the fruit is a valuable laxative 

 and antiscorbutic. « 



In Guam the trees grow well, but as they do not spread spontaneously they are 

 found only near villages and houses where they have been planted, and on the sites 

 of abandoned ranchos. 

 References: 



Tamarindus indica L. Sp. PL 1 : 34. 1753. 

 Tamauian (Philippines). See Calophyllum inophyllum. 

 Tambalisa (Philippines). See Sophora tomentosa. 

 Tambo (Philippines). See Trichoon roxburghii. 

 Tamo (Philippines). See Zinziber zerumbet. 

 Tanetane (Samoa). See Nothopanax fruticosum. 

 Tanga-mirni (Samoa). See Ipomoea congesta. 

 Tangantangan (Guam) . See Leucaena glauca. 

 Tangantangan (Philippines). See Ricinus communis. 

 Tangerine orange. See Citrus nobilis. 

 Tanglad (Philippines). See Andropogon nardus. - 

 Tanning. 



Among the plants yielding tan stuffs are the following: 



Anacardium occidentale. — Kasoe, the cashew tree. 



Bruguiera gymnorhiza. — Mangle macho, the many-petaled mangrove. 



Ficus sp. — Nunu, the banyan; bark astringent. 



Heritiera littoralis. — Ufa; free from coloring matter. 



« Watt, Economic Products of India, vol. 6, pt. 3, pp. 405-409, 1893. 



