The Tamarind Tree.
Tamarindus.
A very pretty tree, native both of the East and West indies, and kept in many of our gardens. The trunk is covered with a pale coloured rough bark; the blanches with a smoother. The leaves are each composed of a great many pairs of smaller, disposed on a common rib, with no odd one at the end. They are small, oval, and of a pale or whitish green. The flowers are large, and very pretty; they are part yellow, and part white; the white leaves of them stained often with red. They stand in clusters, half a dozen together. The fruit is a flat pod, broad, brown, and hard; these contain a pulpy substance, and the seeds a stringy matter with them. The pulp, strings, and seeds are brought over to us, and the pulp is separated for use: it is of a pleasant acid taste, and is a gentle and excellent purge; it works also by urine. It is good in the jaundice. The pulp is useful also to cool the mouth, and quench thirst in fevers. It is not much used singly as a purge.
