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Tamarindus indica
Also called Indian Tamarind, Tamarind Tree, Tormon, Kilytree, Tetul
In Singapore: Tamarind (Naturalised in Singapore)
3 NParks heritage trees in Singapore: Found in Istana, near Nursery car-park; Found in Surin Avenue Park; Found in Fullerton Road, entrance to The Fullerton Waterboat House garden
Tamarind is a long-lived, evergreen leguminous tree grown for its sour, sweet pulp in pods, used widely in cooking. It thrives in hot, dry tropical climates with full sun and deep soil.
Tamarind (Tamarindus indica) is a leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is indigenous to tropical Africa and naturalized in Asia. The genus Tamarindus is monotypic, meaning that it contains only this species. It belongs to the family Fabaceae.
The tamarind tree produces brown, pod-like fruits that contain a sweet, tangy pulp, which is used in cuisines around the world. The pulp is also used in traditional medicine and as a dye. The wood can be used for woodworking, and tamarind seed oil can be extracted from the seeds. Its young leaves are used in Indian and Filipino cuisine. Because tamarind has multiple uses, it is cultivated worldwide in tropical and subtropical zones.
Seeds can be scarified or briefly boiled to enhance germination. They retain their germination capability for several months if kept dry.
Tamarind is a traditional food plant in Africa. Although not grown on a large-scale commercial basis, it has the potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development, and support sustainable land care.
Tamarindus indica is indigenous to tropical Africa, where botanical studies place its native domestication within the dry savannas of the Sudanian belt, extending from Sudan, especially Kordofan, westward across sub-Sahelian Africa. It has been cultivated for so long on the Indian subcontinent that it is sometimes reported to be indigenous there. It grows wild in Africa. In Arabia, it is found growing wild in Oman, especially Dhofar, where it grows on the sea-facing slopes of mountains. It reached South Asia likely through human transportation and cultivation several thousand years ago. It is widely distributed throughout the tropics, from Africa to South Asia and Australia. In Madagascar, its fruit and leaves are a well-known favorite of the ring-tailed lemur, providing as much as 50 percent of their food resources during the year if available.
Most parts of the tamarind tree (including the wood, bark, flowers, leaves, pulp and seeds) have various environmental, commercial, and culinary uses. Tamarind trees are used as shade trees and ornamental trees (common along highways and in parks).
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Tamarind by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
