Vijayasankar ji I think the available literature confirms that the plant is native of Africa and not India. My quote from the link above clarifies the situation.
-- Dr. Gurcharan Singh Retired Associate Professor SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007 Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018. Phone: 011-25518297 Mob: 9810359089 http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/ On Fri, Jul 23, 2010 at 11:49 AM, R. Vijayasankar <[email protected]>wrote: > Stephan ji, The location details (!!!!!!!!?) can be seen in this link: > http://misc.thefullwiki.org/Tamarind_Island > > Gurcharan ji and all, > The question which comes in everybody's mind is, if it is native to India > why there is no wild population exist in our country. And we can not see it > in wild condition either inside forests or in open fields. Whatever plant we > see along fringes/ highly disturbed parts of forests and near habitations > are practically from planted sources and/or dispersal of seeds by birds?, > animals and human. Contrastingly, this species occur in wild in the > 'forests' of Madagascar, for e.g. > > May be it was (and is) so popular and widely planted and used in our > country that Linnaeus gave the name keeping India in mind? However, some > authors consider the specific epithet denotes the West Indies where it is > said to be indigenous (?) too. > > Another question: in what context Hooker described *Tamarindus officinalis > * as new species (now synonym), based on specimen from where? what source: > wild or planted? > > ...while writing this i read a monograph in this link: > http://www.icuc-iwmi.org/files/Publications/tamarind_monograph.pdf and i > am almost clear and convinced now about its distribution. I suggest you to > read (page 9 onwards) this well researched monograph for clarity too. > > With regards > > Vijayasankar > > > On Thu, Jul 22, 2010 at 11:50 PM, Gurcharan Singh <[email protected]>wrote: > >> My source, well known book L. H. Bailey "Manual of Cultivated Plants" >> writes that the generic name Tamarindus is derived from the Arabic >> Tamar-Hindi meaning "Indian Date". This is also confirmed by web >> information: >> >> http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080313220541AA9Noxo >> "Persians and the Arabs who called it "tamar hindi" (Indian date, from the >> date-like appearance of the dried pulp), giving rise to both its common and >> generic names. Unfortunately, the specific name, "indica", also perpetuates >> the illusion of Indian origin. The fruit was well known to the ancient >> Egyptians and to the Greeks in the 4th Century B.C." >> >> http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/tamarind.html >> "Native to tropical Africa, the tree grows wild throughout the Sudan and >> was so long ago introduced into and adopted in India that it has often been >> reported as indigenous there also, and it was apparently from this Asiatic >> country that it reached the Persians and the Arabs who called it *"tamar >> hindi" *(Indian date, from the date-like appearance of the dried pulp), >> giving rise to both its common and generic names. Unfortunately, the >> specific name, *"indica", *also perpetuates the illusion of Indian >> origin. The fruit was well known to the ancient Egyptians and to the Greeks >> in the 4th Century B.C." >> >> The source Tamarind Islands comes nowhere in picture. >> >> >> >> >> -- >> Dr. Gurcharan Singh >> Retired Associate Professor >> SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007 >> Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018. >> Phone: 011-25518297 Mob: 9810359089 >> http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/ >> >> >> >> >> On Fri, Jul 23, 2010 at 9:56 AM, Stephen A <[email protected]>wrote: >> >>> Dear Pankaj, >>> >>> Btw, Its great to know more about a common plant which has been used as >>> condiment in our culinary preparations. >>> Can you just throw some light on Tamarind Islands because I couldn't >>> locate it on the web. >>> One such island is located near Thailand but it is far away place from >>> its native of tropical Africa. >>> >>> So, can you just explain where this island is located!!! >>> >>> Regards, >>> >>> Stephen... >>> >>> On Sun, Jul 11, 2010 at 10:58 PM, Dr. Pankaj Kumar < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> Just wanted to add one info. Many believe that the plant is originated >>>> in India as stated by Linnaeus too. But the plant is supposed to be >>>> originally from Tamarind Island. This generic and specific epithet is >>>> one of the few unique ones as both genus and species are based on name >>>> of a place. There are very few such examples other than this, like, >>>> India arunachalensis an Orchid. >>>> >>>> Nice pics BTW. >>>> >>>> Regards >>>> Pankaj >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Think about the Environment before printing this e-mail! ΓΌ >>> +----------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------+ >>> Think B4U Print >>> 1 ream of paper = 6% of a tree and 5.4kg CO2 in the atmosphere >>> 3 sheets of A4 paper = 1 litre of water >>> +----------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------+ >>> "Lets Protect What We Enjoy" >>> "When the last tree is cut n the last river is poisoned, man will realize >>> that s/he cannot eat her/his money" >>> If you're never scared or embarrassed or hurt, it means you never take >>> any chances - Anonymous >>> >> >> >> >> >
