167
Tamarindus
indica L.
Synonym : Tamarindus occidentalis
Gaertn.
Family
: Caesalpinioideae
Local Names
: Puli, Tamarind tree, Indian
date
Flowering
and fruiting period:
September – April
Distribution: Native of Tropical
Africa; introduced and widely grown in India and other parts of tropics
Habitat: Cultivated
IUCN
status:
Least concern
Endemic: No
Uses: Fruits edible. Syrup
made from the ripe fruit is drunk in order to keep the digestive organs in good
condition, and also as a remedy for coughs and chest colds. The fruit pulp may
be used as a massage to treat rheumatism, as an acid refrigerant, a mild
laxative and also to treat scurvy.
Key
Characters:
Tamarindus indica are trees with bark
brown to brownish-black. Leaves paripinnate, alternate, leaflets, opposite,
oblong, margin entire. Flowers bisexual, yellow with reddish-pink dots, in lax
terminal racemes. Calyx; lobes 4, subequal, oblong, imbricate. Petals 3, outer
one, rolled up, pink dotted, lateral 2, clawed, subequal, oblong, imbricate. Petals 3,
outer one, rolled up, pink dotted, lateral 2, clawed, subequal,
oblong-lanceolate, lower pair scaly. Stamens 9 monadelphous, only 3 fertile;
anthers versatile; ovary half inferior, ovules many. Fruit a pod.
