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__NOTOC__{{Plantbox
__NOTOC__{{Plantbox
| name = ''Tamarindus indica''
| name = ''Tamarindus indica''
'''Fruit''': The 3 - 8 inch long, brown, irregularly curved pods are borne in abundance along the new branches. As the pods mature, they fill out somewhat and the juicy, acidulous pulp turns brown or reddish-brown. When fully ripe, the shells are brittle and easily broken. The pulp dehydrates to a sticky paste enclosed by a few coarse stands of fiber. The pods may contain from 1 to 12 large, flat, glossy brown, obovate seeds embedded in the brown, edible pulp. The pulp has a pleasing sweet/sour flavor and is high in both acid and sugar. It is also rich in vitamin B and high in calcium. There are wide differences in fruit size and flavor in seedling trees. Indian types have longer pods with 6 - 12 seeds, while the West Indian types have shorter pods containing only 3 - 6 seeds. Most tamarinds in the Americas are of the shorter type.
'''Fruit''': The 3 - 8 inch long, brown, irregularly curved pods are borne in abundance along the new branches. As the pods mature, they fill out somewhat and the juicy, acidulous pulp turns brown or reddish-brown. When fully ripe, the shells are brittle and easily broken. The pulp dehydrates to a sticky paste enclosed by a few coarse stands of fiber. The pods may contain from 1 to 12 large, flat, glossy brown, obovate seeds embedded in the brown, edible pulp. The pulp has a pleasing sweet/sour flavor and is high in both acid and sugar. It is also rich in vitamin B and high in calcium. There are wide differences in fruit size and flavor in seedling trees. Indian types have longer pods with 6 - 12 seeds, while the West Indian types have shorter pods containing only 3 - 6 seeds. Most tamarinds in the Americas are of the shorter type.
{{Inc|
Tamarindus indica, Linn. Tamarind. Tamarindo. Fig. 3768. A large tree, attaining to 80 ft. in height when grown on deep soils, with a trunk 25 ft. in circum.: bark brownish gray, somewhat shaggy: lvs. abruptly pinnate; lfts. 20-40, opposite, oblong, 1/2 – 3/4 in. long, glabrescent, soft, pale green, obtuse: fls. few together in lax racemes, individually about 1 in. broad, pale yellow, the petals veined red; calyx-teeth lanceolate, the lowest 2 connate: pod 3-8 in. long, 3/4 - l in. broad, cinnamon-brown, with a brittle epicarp and brown pulp inclosing 1-12 seeds. Flowers in April and May in the northern hemisphere, ripening fr. in late autumn and winter. B.M. 4563 (as T. officinalis). J.F. 2:133.—The tamarind is a magnificent evergreen tree, extensively cult. in nearly all tropical countries. It succeeds in S. Fla., and has been grown as far north as Manatee, where a large specimen was killed by the freeze of 1884. It is not sufficiently hardy to be grown in Calif., failure having attended all past efforts to cult. it in that state, so far as known. It delights in a deep alluvial soil and abundant rainfall, the largest specimens being found in tropical regions where the soil is rich and deep. On the shallow soils of S. E. Fla. it does not attain to great size. When small it is very susceptible to frost, but when mature it will probably withstand temperatures as low as 28-30° F. without injury.
The plump slightly curved pod has a thin brittle shell. It contains a soft brownish pulp transversed by a few strong branched fibers; the large flattened glossy seeds, varying from one to twelve in number, are surrounded by a thin tough membrane. The pulp contains sugar together with acetic, tartaric and citric acids, the acids being combined, for the most part, with potash. In East Indian tamarinds, according to Dymock (Pharm. Ind. pt. II, 532-36) citric acid is present in a small quantity, about 4 per cent, while there is about 9 per cent of tartaric. The pulp is widely used in the Orient as an ingredient in chutnies and curries, and for pickling fish. In medicine, it is valued by the Hindus as a refrigerant, digestive, carminative, laxative, and antiscorbutic, for which latter purpose it is sometimes used in place of lime juice. With the addition of sugar and water, it makes a cooling drink or refresco, especially well known in Latin America. For the preparation of this drink, a sirup is often made from the pulp which can be bottled and used as desired. In some countries tamarinds are an important article of export. In Jamaica the fruit is prepared for shipment by stripping it of its outer shell, and then packing it in casks, with alternate layers of coarse sugar. When the cask is nearly full, boiling sirup is poured over all, after which the cask is headed up. In the Orient, the pulp, containing the seeds, is pressed into large cakes, which are packed for shipment in sacks made from palm leaves. This product is a familiar sight in the bazaars. It seems to be greatly esteemed as an article of diet by the Indians, as also by the Arabs, large quantities being shipped to Arabia from India.
According to Watt, the natives of India have an aversion to sleeping under the shade of the tree because of the supposed acid exhalation from the leaves. Pittier states, however, that he has slept under a tamarind tree for weeks without suffering the least inconvenience. Gamble writes that the leaves corrode the cloth of tents pitched in the shade of the tree. This happens, he says, in wet weather; the leaves fall on the tents, and within a day or two the cloth is decomposed in holes.
The tree is easily propagated by means of seeds, which is the only method commonly used. Seeds can be transported without difficulty, as they retain their viability for a considerable length of time if kept dry. They are best germinated by planting them 1/2 inch deep in light, sandy loam. The young plants are rather delicate and must be handled carefully to prevent damping-off. In India, the yield of a mature tree is said to be about 350 pounds of fruit per annum. Little is known of the insect pests which attack the tree; Maxwell-Lefroy mentions two, Caryoborus gonagra, a large gray-brown chrysomelid beetle found in tamarind seeds, and Charaxes fabius, a large black yellow-spotted butterfly whose larvae feed on the leaves. Both these insects occur in India.
Firminger mentions three varieties of tamarind grown in India, but does not know whether they can be depended on to come true from seed. Masters, in the "Treasury of Botany," states that the East Indian variety has long pods, with six to twelve seeds, while the West Indian variety has shorter pods, containing one to four seeds. Seedlings undoubtedly show considerable variation in the size and quality of their fruit, which accounts for the different varieties which have been noted by many writers. Firminger recommends that seedlings which produce unusually choice fruit be propagated by gootee, or stem-layering, a method which is described under Litchi. More recently (1913) Wester has reported that the tree can be shield-budded successfully the method being similar to that used with avocado.
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==Cultivation==
==Cultivation==
