TAMARIX ELEGANS, the Myricara elegans, Royle. It attains a height of 20 feet.— Von Mueller. TAMARIX GALLICA. Linn.
T. Indica, .Roccb. T. gallica, var. T. Indica, T. epacroides, Sm. Ehrenb.
TUrfa, ARAB., GUJ., PERS. Koa, Rukh, . . . TaLtirtri8k, . . . ENG. Lainya of SALT RANGE. Ferash, Fraab, Jhao, HIND Prakke, Pakke, . TEL. Pharwan, Pilchi, . PANJ.
Exudation—Gazanjabin. Galls— aumrut - ul - turfaj Dia-in,Buree mue,HIND.
The Indian tamarisk is a glabrous greenish plant with stiff twiggy branches, of considerable size in the Ajmir district, but the wood is there very inferior. In the Dekhan it grows abund antly as a small tree or shrub in the beds of many rivers, and affords shelter for all sorts of ganie. It is subject to the attacks of a cynips, which pro duces galls that possess astringent properties, and they are on this account used in medicine by the native doctors of India. The same property also renders them valuable in dyeing ; baskets are made of the twigs, which are also used medi cinally as an astringent. The galls are largely gathered in the Jhang., Gligaira, and Muzaffar gild' districts, as also in Debra Ghazi Khan district, where as much as 500 maunds are annually collected. The manna of Mount Sinai is produced
from a variety of this plant, and consists of a pure sugar. It grows up to 10,600 feet on the Shayok in Ladakh, reaches 3 feet in girth and 30 high, and furnishes much of the steamer fuel in the Southern Panjab and in Sind ; the wood is coarse grained and often very red, and is used for Persian wheels, in turning, etc. In Ladakh, where wood is scarce, this is used for the handles of the sticks for polo or hockey on horseback. It adapts itself in the most extraordinary manner to the most diverse localities. It will grow alike in water and the driest soil, also in saline ground, and ascends the Himalayas to 11,000 feet. /t is readily multiplied from cuttings, which strike root as easily as a willow, and push forth stems with unusual vigour. Hence it is one of the most eligible bushes for planting on coast sand to stay its movements, or for lining embankments. It furnishes material for a superior charcoal. — Stewart ; Royle ; 1?oxb. p. 100 ; V017 Mueller.