Weeds of Australia - Fact Sheet

Top Scientific Name Family Common Names Origin Naturalised Distribution Notes

Scientific Name

Tamarindus indica L.

Family

Caesalpiniaceae (Queensland, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia and the Northern Territory)
Fabaceae: sub-family Caesalpinioideae (New South Wales)
Leguminosae (South Australia)

Common Names

Indian tamarind, kilytree, tamarind

Origin

Native to tropical Africa (i.e. Chad, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Zaire, Benin, Burkina Faso, the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe), Madagascar and the Arabian Peninsula (i.e. Yemen).

Note: this species has sometimes been regarded as being native to parts of northern Australia, because of its presence prior to European settlement. However, it is now thought to have been introduced by Macassan traders in the early eighteenth century.

Naturalised Distribution

Widely naturalised in northern Australia (i.e. in northern and central Queensland, in the northern parts of the Northern Territory and in the coastal districts of northern Western Australia). Also naturalised on Christmas Island.

Also naturalised in south-eastern USA (i.e. Florida), Central America, South America, south-eastern Asia, La Réunion and several Pacific islands (i.e. Fiji, French Polynesia, New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands).

Notes

Tamarind (Tamarindus indica) is regarded as an environmental weed in northern Queensland.