Tamarindus indica, Linn.

Family: Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae

Common Name : Tamarind Tree

Telugu Name : Chinta

General :

A versatile tree occurring every where. It grows best in deep alluvial soils and termite mounds but comes up in any type of soil. It is extensively introduced in enrichment planting in dry deciduous and thorn forests.

Flowering :

April to June and occasionally in September to October.

Fruiting :

Pods appear during winter and ripen in spring.

Morphology of the Fruit/Seed :

Pods 8 to 20 cms by 3 cms in size, brown, slightly curved, indehiscent with a crustaceous brittle epicarp; pithy green inside when unripe, becoming pulpy later. Seeds 3 to 10, 1.3 cm in diam., irregularly shaped, with hard dark brown or black shining smooth testa.

Seed Collection and Storage :

Pods are collected during March to April from the branches . The pods are dried in the sun after removal of the shell, kneaded by hand and washed in water to separate the seed which is later dried in the shade and stored. The viability is retained for more than one year.

Seed Biology :

No. of seeds per Kg.

Germination percentage

Plant percent

Germination period in days

No. of seedlings per Kg. of seed

1,800 to 2,600

70 to 75

40

10 to 20

320 to 1,040

Pretreatment:

Overnight soaking in cold water.

Nursery Technique :

Sowing is done in big polythene bags in June to July. Germination starts within a week. Growth is fast when well irrigated and seedlings attain a height of 60 cms within a year.