TAMARINDUS INDICA. 
53 
are opposite, oblong, obtuse, entire, smooth, of a bright yellowish- 
green colour, and standing upon very short footstalks; the flowers 
approach to the papilionaceous kind, and are produced in lateral 
clusters of five or six ; the calyx consists of four deciduous leaves, 
which are reflexed, oblong, or rather ovate, entire, smooth, nearly 
equal in size, and straw coloured, or yellowish ; the petals are three, 
ovate, concave, acute, indented, and plaited at the edges, about the 
length of the calyx, and of a yellowish colour, beautifully variegated 
with red veins ; the peduncles ai'e about half an inch long, and each 
furnished with a joint as the flower turns inwards ; the filaments are 
most commonly three, but in some flowers we haVe found four, ia 
others only two; they are purple, united at the base, and furnished 
with incuml)ent, brownish anthers; the germen is oblong, com- 
pressed, incurved, standing upon a short pedicle; the style is 
tapering, somewhat longer than the filaments, and terminated by aa 
obtuse stigma ; the fruit is a pod of a roundish, compressed form, 
from three to five inches long, containing two, three, or four flattish, 
angular, shining seeds, lodged in a dark pulpy matter, and covered 
by several rough, longitudinal fibres ; these seeds are about the size 
of a kidney bean, of a reddish, brown colour, extremely hard, 
bitter and somewhat acrid to the taste : they will keep for any length 
of time without decay. According to Jacquin, the flowers appear 
from October to November. 
The pulp of the tamarind, with the seeds connected together by 
numerous tough strings or fibres, are brought to us freed from the 
outer shell, and preserved in syrup. They are prepared for exporta- 
tion at Jamaica, in the following manner : " The fruit or pods are 
gathered when fully ripe, (about June, July and August), which is 
known by their fragility, or easy breaking on small pressure between 
the finger and thumb ; the fruit taken out of the pods, and cleared 
from the shelly fragments, is placed in layers in a cask, and boiling 
syrup poured over it till the cask is filled ; the syrup pervades every 
part quite down to the bottom, and when cool the cask is headed 
for sale."* The fruit of the East India tamarind is more esteemed 
than that of the West India; they are easily to be distinguished by 
the greater length of the pods of the former, and the pulp being 
dryer and of a darker colour: they are said to be preserved without 
sugar, which we are much inclined to doubt. When tamarinds are 
good, they are free from any degree of mustiness ; the seeds are 
* Loog's Jamaica, toI. iii. p. 729. 
