Tamarix - tamarisk

The genus Tamarix (tamarisk) comprises about 50-60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa.

They are coniferous or evergreen shrubs or small trees growing to 1-15 m in height and forming dense thickets, The largest, Tamarix aphylla, is an evergreen tree that can grow to 15 m tall. They usually grow on saline soils, tolerating up to 15,000 ppm soluble salt and can also tolerate alkali conditions. Tamarisks are characterized by slender branches and grey-green foliage. The bark of young branches is smooth and reddish-brown. As the plants age, the bark becomes brownish-purple, ridged and furrowed. The leaves are scale-like, 1-2 mm long, and overlap each other along the stem. They are often encrusted with salt secretions. The pink to white flowers appear in dense masses on 5-10 cm long spikes at branch tips from March to September, though some species (e.g. T. aphylla) tend to flower during the winter.

Tamarix can spread both vegetatively, by adventitious roots or submerged stems, and sexually, by seeds. Each flower can produce thousands of tiny (1 mm diameter) seeds that are contained in a small capsule usually adorned with a tuft of hair that aids in wind dispersal. Seeds can also be dispersed by water. Seedlings require extended periods of soil saturation for establishment. Tamarix species are fire-adapted, and have long tap roots that allow them to intercept deep water tables and exploit natural water resources. They are able to limit competition from other plants by taking up salt from deep ground water, accumulating it in their foliage, and from there depositing it in the surface soil where it builds up concentrations temporarily detrimental to some plants. The salt is washed away during heavy rains.

Tamarix species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Coleophora asthenella which feeds exclusively on T. africana.


Some species
Tamarix parviflora
Tamarix juniperina
Tamarix taklamakanensis
Tamarix africana
Tamarix mongolica
Tamarix androssowii
Tamarix aphylla
Tamarix sachuensis
Tamarix smyrnensis
Tamarix gracilis
Tamarix leptostachys
Tamarix meyeri
Tamarix hampeana
Tamarix hispida
Tamarix hohenackeri
Tamarix indica
Tamarix Bengal
Tamarix jintaenia
Tamarix arceuthoides
Tamarix austromongolica
Tamarix boveana
Tamarix canariensis
Tamarix chinensis
Tamarix dalmatica
Tamarix dioica
Tamarix elongata
Tamarix tarimensis
Tamarix tenuissima
Tamarix ramosissima
Tamarix tetrandra
Tamarix gallica
Tamarix gansuensis
Tamarix karelinii
Tamarix laxa

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