Tamarindus indica L.
| Kannada Name : | Hunase mara |
| Common Name : | Tamarind |
| Family Name : | Fabaceae |
| Scientific Name : | Tamarindus indica |
| Species Type : | Exotic |
| Phenology : | Deciduous |
| Conservation Status : | Not known |
| Flowering Period : | April - June |
| Fruiting Period : | October - December |
| Origin : | Tropical Africa |
Uses
Leaf extracts exhibit anti-oxidant activity in the liver, and are a common ingredient in cardiac and blood sugar reducing medicines. A sweetened decoction of the leaves is good against throat infection, cough, fever, and even intestinal worms. The fruit is aperient and laxative. A 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 flesh of the fruit is eaten to cure fevers and control gastric acid
Description
Evergreen trees, up to 20 m high, bark brown to brownish-black, rough with vertical fissures; branchlets warty, tomentose. Leaves paripinnate, alternate; leaflets oblong, glabrous, chartaceous, base unequal, apex obtuse, margin entire. Inflorescence a terminal raceme. Flowers bisexual, yellow with reddish-pink dots. Fruit a pod oblong, fruit wall crustaceous, mesocarp pulpy, endocarp septate, leathery, indehiscent; seeds obovoid-orbicular, compressed, brown..
