(Continued from Part 1)
The Plant
The tamarind is a tree in the pea family that is indigenous to tropical Africa. It was introduced into India so long ago that it is sometimes erroneously thought that it is indigenous to India, which is now the world's largest producer. The tree, which can grow as tall as a hundred feet, is perhaps the most widely grown tropical fruit tree. A University of Florida site describes the tamarind in the following way.
A handsome, short-trunked tree with a spreading frame of branches, the tamarind tree has a great dome-shaped crown of airy, graceful leaves. The tamarind tree is long-lived, sometimes still productive after 200 years. This tropical tree is drought-resistant and flourishes in sandy, rocky, and poor-quality soils. The tree's strong, supple branches are little affected by high winds. Clusters of pale yellow veined blossoms turn into long, flat rust-colored pods that are usually slightly curved. The pods are usually 3 to 8 inches in length, and may contain as many as 12 seeds. Mature trees are capable of producing up to 350 pounds of fruit a year.
Here are some tamarind pictures from the Internet.
- A full-grown tree.
- Four pictures that show the leaves at decreasing distances. At night the leaves close up.
- Two pictures that show flowering tamarind trees. The flowers, which are about an inch wide, are yellow with orange or red streaks. The sepals are red but are shed when the flower opens. (Sepals are the outer covering of the flower bud.)
- Three close-ups of tamarind flowers. Note that they do not look like standard pea flowers.
- Honeybee on a tamarind flower.
- Three pictures of tamarind fruit on a tree. The fruit was well known to the Greeks and Egyptians in the 4th century B.C.
- Tamarind seedling.
The tamarind tree is usually propagated from seed, which will remain viable for months and will sprout a week after planting.
(Continued in Part 3)
