TAMARINDUS TREE SEEDS

Tamarindus indica

Tamarindus indica is a moderate-sized to large evergreen tree, reaching up to 24 meters in height and 7 meters in girth. Known for its distinctive pods and tangy fruit pulp, it is widely cultivated for both culinary and medicinal uses.

Tree Characteristics

• Bark: Dark grey or brownish, horizontally and longitudinally fissured.
• Leaves: Alternate, paripinnate, up to 15 cm long with 10–20 pairs of oblong, sub-sessile leaflets.
• Flowers: Small, yellow with pinkish stripes, borne in few-flowered racemes at branchlet ends.
• Pods: Flat, obovate, dehiscent, scurfy, and brown ash-colored.
• Seeds: 3–12 per pod, obovate-oblong, compressed, smooth dark brown with shallow oblong pits on each side.

Seed Germination Experiment

Research has shown that pre-treatment of seeds significantly improves germination rates:

Source: Muhammad and Amusa (2003)