Of the tree that in these parts they call tamarix or taray, because its leaves are very similar, but on the island of Hispaniola is called cohoba.[1]

Translated by Molly McCarthy ’21

Tamarix is very well known in Spain and is commonly found in the groves and brooks of many rivers, like the Tajo, the Duero, the Ebro, the Guadiana, the Guadalquivir. And I have seen this tamarix along the banks of many other brooks; but the tamarix that I have seen in Spain is very small when compared to the trees found in the Indies, which are very large and very tall and thick and have big branches, but their leaves are no more or less than the real tamarix of the riverbanks I mentioned. And one of these is the tree of the soap beads,[2] and others who do not bear such beads but whose leaves are similar. Also, the wood of the tamarix here is not as solid or heavy as that of the Spanish tamarix, being somewhat spongy and light, but it is not bad wood all the same. And some of these trees, not just the ones whose leaves are like those of the tamarix, belong to the same type; because like I said, some bear fruit that can be made into soap, and others bear peas or fava beans that are black and round and hard and not for animal or man to eat. And this cohoba bears peas whose pods are a about a handspan long, more or less, bearing as a fruit non-edible lentils, and the wood is very good and tough.

[1] Piptadenia peregrina.

[2] See Book IX, Chapter 5. [EE]