Flora Medica

TAMARICACEJE.Nat. syst. ed. 2. p. 1 26.TAMARIX.Sepals 5, distinct. Petals 4-5. Stamens 4-10, equal, insertedeach on and connecting 2 of the teeth of the disk, distinct withoutany intermediate gland or membrane. Disk fleshy, scutelliform,supporting the ovary, with twice as many teeth on themargin as there are stamens. Styles 24, usually 3. Seedsnot beaked, with a simple pappus-like coma at their extremity.Flower-bearing branchlets, usually arranged in panicles.W. and A.422. T. gallica Linn. sp. pi. 386. Ehrenb. in Linn. ii. 266.DC. prodr. Hi. 96. T. indica Willd. act. berol. 1812-1813.No. 5. DC. prodr.iii. 96. T. epacroides Smith in Reess Cyclop.Banks and beds of torrents, or sandy islands in large riversalong the basin of the Mediterranean, through Egypt and Palestineto Bengal.A shrub or large tree, from 6-12 feet high. Branches numerous,slender, erect, gracefully drooping, bright brown, quite smooth. Leavesminute, sessile, smooth, pressed close to the branches. Flowers small,pink or nearly white, in terminal drooping racemose panicles. Stamens5. Disk 10-toothed. Styles 3, rather long. Capsules tapering.From this speciesis collected in the vicinity of Sinai, an abundance ofawhite sweet gummy substance, resembling Manna, which however is saidto contain no Mannite, but chiefly to consist of pure mucilaginous sugar.Ehrenberg considers it as an exudation produced by a species of Coccus(manniparus) which inhabits the tree, and this is confirmed by Mr.Malcolmson, who in a note I received from him some time since observesthat the Persian manna known by the name of " gen," is formedby an insect in that way, and is not found on the upper branches orleaves, but only on the larger branches covered by those minuteinsects, and none isformed near wounds or cracks in the bark. This wasparticularly observed by Colonel Frederick in Persia, in a latitude notmuch south of Mount Sinai, and his account corresponds with that ofa traveller who saw it in the same country both on a Tamarisk andon the small oak of Kermanshaw,It is remarkable that the secretion should be unknown in Egypt andArabia, where the T. gallica would seem to be common. Forskahl, whosays it is the Tarfa of the Arabs, takes no notice of any manna beingproduced by it, and Mr. Malcolmson informs me that he could gain nointelligence of manna being produced by the Tamarisk in any of thesouth and west coasts of Arabia and Upper Egypt. He observed thetrees frequently secreting salt, but not sugar. I must however add,203