Tamarisk.
Tamariscus.
A little tree, frequent wild in France, and kept in our gardens: it grows, however, much larger in its native climate than here. The bark is brown on the trunk, and paler on the branches, and the young shoots are red and very slender. The leaves are very beautiful; they are of a fine bright green, delicately divided into small parts, and regular. The flowers are very small and red; but they stand in spikes, and very close together; and as four or five of these spikes also often stand together, they are very conspicuous; the seeds are small, and lodged in a downy substance.
The bark is used dried, and the tops of the branches fresh; both have the same virtue; the one is best in decoction, the other in a light infusion, made in the manner of tea. Either is good to open obstructions. They promote the menses, are good in the jaundice, and it is said against the rickets.
