Known as `Tamarindus Indica` to the scientists of the world, the `Tamarind Tree` is considered as one of the most beautiful trees. The name `Tamarind` derived from the Persian word `Tamar-e-Hind` that means "Indian date". This charming tree is proud member of the `Leguminosae` family and `Caesalpinieae` sub family. The Hindi speaking people call it as `Tamrulhindi`, `Ambili` and `Imli`. In Bengali, it is known as `Tinti`, `Nuli` and `Tentul`. The tree is named as `Puli` in both the languages of Tamil and Malayalam.

The flowers of the `Tamarind Tree` are very ordinary. The tree posses a large size and it can reach a great age of near about 200 years. At almost throughout the year, it stands tall and creates a very charming and beautiful sight. The `Tamarind Tree` has some nice and spreading branches and a canopy of bulging foliage. The tree is much admired as an avenue, park or garden tree as it has very useful fruits and the timber of this tree is highly precious. It has a short but strong trunk to bear the weight of its wide and extensive top. The almost black bark is thick and some longitudinal and horizontal cracks cover it well. The tree can achieve the height of 27 m.

In the months of May and June, there appear some tiny, scented flowers in the tree in loose, lethal and sidewise sprays. They remain almost unremarkable amongst the mass of the plants. You can find them on close examination and enjoy an unexpected beauty. Each of the flowers is more than 2.5 cm in length and the four velvety or yellow sepals increase to the full width and appear more like petals. The original petals are smaller and normally three in numbers. They are also velvety and yellow like the flowers. The difference is that the petals remain covered with a nice net of deep red veins.

Three green stamens of the flowers and one long pistil bend from the centre. The buds are usually enclosed in two sheaths and often crimson in colour. These things make an appealing variation on the flower sprays. The pods are commonly quite numerous. They significantly vary in size and shape on the same tree. They are green in colour but a grayish brown, felt-like film over the green makes them appear brownish. They are off-white and brittle when got maturity. A stringy pulp contains the seeds from one to ten and the pod is more or less slimmed between these seeds. The pulp is brown and acid in some of the varieties of Tamarind and in others it is sweet but the one with reddish pulp is calculated to be the best. There are leaves in the tree always but at times it becomes so bare that many of the branches and twigs got exposed. This time the leaves become dark green in colour. The new and fresh leaves appear in the first months of the year and they appear even in September in some special occasions.

The conversion of the tree is strange. You can observe it as a tired, dusty tree in one week, but in the very next week, you will find it as a waving cloak with a brilliant green cover from top to bottom and there is barely a glimpse of branch or twig. The leaves of the `Tamarind Tree` are compound in formation and usually divided into ten to twelve pairs of leaflets. They are quite small and become even smaller at the end of the year. They are square, smooth and they grow diagonally.

The fruit of this tree has a numerous usage. The pulp is used as an important ingredient in the curries and preserves very popularly. It is pressed, preserved and sold by weight in the markets occasionally. It is used as a laxative in medicine. People make powder from grinding the seeds and boil it to paste with gum and make strong cement. A substitute for wheat or other flour can also be obtained from them that is used by the jungle people to make chapattis. The stalks of the seeds have been employed for road surfacing as well. The scientists also discovered that the seeds could make a cheap but efficient substitute for cereal starch that is used for making the cotton yarn in proper size, for jute fabrics and for woolens.

The leaves and flowers of the tree are also quite useful. Both of them are suitable for eating. An infusion from the leaves can make a fine yellow dye that is used to give a green colour to silks. Though hard and very difficult to work on, the timber of the tree is of high value. People widely use this wood for making wheels, mallets, furniture, oil and sugar mills, etc.