Tamarix

They are evergreen or deciduous shrubs or trees growing to {{convert|1-18|m|ft|abbr=on|frac=2}} in height and forming dense thickets. The largest, Tamarix aphylla, is an evergreen tree that can grow to {{convert|18|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall. They usually grow on saline soils, tolerating up to 15,000 ppm soluble salt, and can also tolerate alkaline conditions.{{cite web |last1=Dyer |first1=Mary H. |title=Is Tamarix Invasive: Helpful Tamarix Information |url=https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/tamarix/tamarix-information.htm |website=www.gardeningknowhow.com |date=6 May 2016 |access-date=22 May 2022 |archive-date=29 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129170507/https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/tamarix/tamarix-information.htm |url-status=live }}

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 gray-brown, ridged and furrowed.

The leaves are scale-like, almost like that of junipers,{{ Citation |last=Dirr| first=Michael A. |title=Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs, an illustrated encyclopedia |year=1997| page=392}}. {{convert|1-2|mm|in|frac=20|abbr=on}} 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 {{convert|5-10|cm|in|abbr=on}} long spikes at branch tips from March to September,{{cite web |title=Tamarix spp. - Tamarisk, Saltcedar, Salt Cedar - Southeastern Arizona Wildflowers and Plants |date=16 March 2010 |url=https://www.fireflyforest.com/flowers/2434/tamarix-spp-tamarisk/ |access-date=2022-05-22 |archive-date=2022-05-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523230239/https://www.fireflyforest.com/flowers/2434/tamarix-spp-tamarisk/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=TAMARISK |url=https://www.southernliving.com/plants/tamarisk |website=Southern Living |access-date=22 May 2022 |language=en |archive-date=16 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516183940/https://www.southernliving.com/plants/tamarisk |url-status=live }} though some species (e.g., T. aphylla) tend to flower in the summer until as late as November.{{cite web |title=Plants of the Bible {{!}} Tamarix aphylla |url=http://www.flowersinisrael.com/Tamarixaphylla_page.htm |website=www.flowersinisrael.com |access-date=22 May 2022 |archive-date=30 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130062427/http://www.flowersinisrael.com/Tamarixaphylla_page.htm |url-status=live }}

Image:Tamarix gallica bloemen.jpg

Image:Tamaris3.jpg specimen in its natural habitat in Algeria]]

Image:Tamarix stricta, Ateybeh, March 2014.jpg in Ateybeh village, Boushehr, Iran]]

{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}

• Tamarix africana Poir.
• Tamarix androssowii
• Tamarix aphylla (L.) H.Karst.
• Tamarix arceuthoides
• Tamarix articulata
• Tamarix austromongolica {{nb5}}
• Tamarix boveana
• Tamarix canariensis
• Tamarix chinensis Lour.
• Tamarix dalmatica
• Tamarix dioica Roxb. ex Roth
• Tamarix duezenlii
• Tamarix elongata
• Tamarix gallica L.
• Tamarix gansuensis
• Tamarix gennessarensis Zohary
• Tamarix gracilis Willd.
• Tamarix hampeana
• Tamarix hispida Willd.{{nb5}}
• Tamarix indica
• Tamarix jintaenia
• Tamarix juniperina
• Tamarix jordanis
• Tamarix karelinii Bunge
• Tamarix laxa Willd.
• Tamarix leptopetala
• Tamarix leptostachys
• Tamarix mannifera (Ehrenb.) Bunge
• Tamarix mongolica
• Tamarix negevensis
• Tamarix nilotica
• Tamarix parviflora DC.
• Tamarix ramosissima Ledeb.
• ''Tamarix stricta
• Tamarix sachuensis
• Tamarix senegalensis DC.
• Tamarix smyrnensis Bunge (=T. hohenackeri)
• Tamarix taklamakanensis
• Tamarix tarimensis
• Tamarix tenuissima
• Tamarix tetragyna Ehrenb.
• Tamarix tetragyna var. meyeri (Boiss.) Boiss. (=T. meyeri)
• Tamarix tetragyna var. tetragyna
• Tamarix tetrandra Pall. ex M.Bieb.{{cite web |url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?11855 |title=GRIN Species Records of Tamarix |work=Germplasm Resources Information Network |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |access-date=2011-02-18 |archive-date=2015-09-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924075427/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?11855 |url-status=live }}
• Tamarix usneoides E.Mey. ex Bunge

{{div col end}}

• Myricaria germanica (L.) Desv. (as T. germanica L.)

Tamarix aphylla can spread both vegetatively, by submerged stems producing adventitious roots, and sexually, by seeds. Each flower can produce thousands of tiny (1 mm; 1/20" 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.texasinvasives.org/plant_database/detail.php?symbol=TAAP |website=Texas Invasive |title=Invasives Database: Invasive Plants, Tamarix aphylla, Athel tamarisk |access-date=2017-12-22 |archive-date=2017-08-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804235212/http://www.texasinvasives.org/plant_database/detail.php?symbol=TAAP |url-status=live }} Tamarisk trees are most often propagated by cuttings.{{cite book |last1=Huxley |first1=A. |title=The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening |date=1992 |publisher=MacMillan Press |location=London |isbn=0-333-47494-5}}

These trees grow in disturbed and undisturbed streams, waterways, bottom lands, banks, and drainage washes of natural or artificial water bodies, moist rangelands and pastures.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Whether Tamarix species are fire-adapted or not is unclear, but in many cases a large proportion of the trees are able to resprout from the stump after fires, although not notably more so than other riverine species. They likely cannot resprout from root suckers. In some habitats where they are native, wildfire appears to favour the establishment of riverine trees such as Populus, to the detriment of Tamarix. Conversely, they do appear to be more flammable, with more dead wood produced and debris held aloft. In the southwestern USA, most stands studied appear to be burning at faster intervals than they can fully mature and die of natural causes.Zouhar, Kris. 2003. [http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/tamspp/all.html Tamarix spp.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320090103/https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/tamspp/all.html |date=2021-03-20 }} In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory.

Tamarix species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Coleophora asthenella which feeds exclusively on T. africana.{{Cite web |url=https://bladmineerders.nl/parasites/animalia/arthropoda/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/gelechioidea/coleophoridae/coleophora/coleophora-asthenella/ |title=Coleophora asthenella |access-date=12 August 2020 |website=Plant Parasites of Europe |archive-date=26 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126030440/https://bladmineerders.nl/parasites/animalia/arthropoda/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/gelechioidea/coleophoridae/coleophora/coleophora-asthenella/ |url-status=live }}

In some specific riparian habitats in the Southwestern United States and California, Tamarix ramosissima has naturalized and become a significant invasive plant species. In other areas, the plants form dense monocultures that alter the natural environment and compete with native species already stressed by human activity.{{cite journal |last1=Di Tomaso |first1=Joseph |date=1998 |title=Impact, Biology, and Ecology of Saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) in the Southwestern United States |journal=Weed Technology |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=326–336 |doi=10.1017/S0890037X00043906 |bibcode=1998WeedT..12..326D |s2cid=251573113}} Recent scientific investigations have generally concluded that the primary human-caused impact to desert riparian ecosystems within the Colorado River Basin is the alteration of the flood regime by dams; Tamarix ramosissima is relatively tolerant of this hydrologic alteration compared to flood-dependent native woody riparian species such as willow, cottonwood, and box elder.{{cite web |author=Wolf, E. |date=June 6, 2016 |title=Science driving a new management strategy for Tamarix |url=https://cwseducation.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk9956/files/classes/files/Science%20driving%20a%20new%20management%20strategy%20for%20Tamarix.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028164455/https://watershed.ucdavis.edu/education/classes/files/content/flogs/Wolf2016_Tamarix.pdf |archive-date=October 28, 2021 |access-date=October 12, 2021}}

Research on competition between tamarisk seedlings and co-occurring native trees has found that Tamarix seedlings are not competitive over a range of environments,{{cite journal |last1=Sher |first1=Anna A. |author1-link=Anna Sher |last2=Marshall |first2=Diane L. |last3=Gilbert |first3=Steven A. |year=2000 |title=Competition between native Populus deltoides and invasive Tamarix ramosissima and the implications of reestablishing flooding disturbance |journal=Conservation Biology |volume=14 |issue=6 |pages=1744–1754 |bibcode=2000ConBi..14.1744S |doi=10.1111/j.1523-1739.2000.99306.x |pmid=35701936}}{{Cite journal |last1=Sher |first1=A.A. |last2=Marshall |first2=D.L. |last3=Taylor |first3=J.P. |date=June 2002 |title=Establishment patterns of native Populus and Salix in the presence of invasive, non-native Tamarix |journal=Ecological Applications |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=760–772 |doi=10.1890/1051-0761(2002)012[0760:eponpa]2.0.co;2}}{{Cite journal |last1=Sher |first1=A. A. |last2=Marshall |first2=D. L. |year=2003 |title=Competition between native and exotic floodplain tree species across water regimes and soil textures |journal=American Journal of Botany |volume=90 |issue=3 |pages=413–422 |doi=10.3732/ajb.90.3.413 |pmid=21659134 |doi-access=free}} but stands of mature trees effectively prevent native species' establishment in the understory, due to low light, elevated salinity, and possibly changes to the soil biota.{{Cite journal |author1=Busch, David E. |author2=Smith, Stanley D. |year=1995 |title=Mechanisms associated with decline of woody species in riparian ecosystems of the southwestern U.S. |journal=Ecological Monographs |volume=65 |issue=3 |pages=347–370 |bibcode=1995EcoM...65..347B |doi=10.2307/2937064 |jstor=2937064}}{{Cite journal |last1=Taylor |first1=J. |last2=McDaniel |first2=K. |date=1998 |title=Restoration of saltcedar (Tamarix spp.)-infested floodplains on the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge |journal=Weed Technology |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=345–352 |doi=10.1017/S0890037X0004392X |bibcode=1998WeedT..12..345T |s2cid=88903153}} Box elder (Acer negundo, a native riparian tree) seedlings survive and grow under higher-shade conditions than Tamarix seedlings, and mature Tamarix specimens die after 1–2 years of 98% shade, indicating a pathway for successional replacement of Tamarix by box elder.{{Cite journal |last1=Dewine |first1=J. M. |last2=Cooper |first2=D. J. |date=April 2008 |title=Canopy shade and the successional replacement of tamarisk by native box elder |journal=Journal of Applied Ecology |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=505–514 |bibcode=2008JApEc..45..505D |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2664.2007.01440.x |issn=1365-2664 |doi-access=free}} Anthropogenic activities that preferentially favor tamarisk (such as changes to flooding regimens) are associated with infestation.{{Cite journal |last1=Shafroth |first1=Patrick |last2=Stromberg |first2=Juliet |last3=Patten |first3=Duncan |year=2000 |title=Woody riparian vegetation response to different alluvial water table regimes |url=https://www.rosemonteis.us/files/references/048768.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Western North American Naturalist |volume=60 |pages=66–76 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920181303/https://www.rosemonteis.us/files/references/048768.pdf |archive-date=2021-09-20 |access-date=2021-03-30}}{{Cite journal |last1=Merritt |first1=David M. |last2=Cooper |first2=David J. |year=2000 |title=Riparian vegetation and channel change in response to river regulation: A comparative study of regulated and unregulated streams in the Green River Basin, USA |journal=Regulated Rivers: Research and Management |volume=16 |issue=6 |pages=543–564 |doi=10.1002/1099-1646(200011/12)16:6<543::AID-RRR590>3.0.CO;2-N}}{{Cite journal |last1=Horton |first1=J. L. |last2=Kolb |first2=T. E. |last3=Hart |first3=S. C. |date=2001 |title=Responses of riparian trees to interannual variation in ground water depth in a semi-arid river basin |journal=Plant, Cell and Environment |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=293–304 |citeseerx=10.1.1.208.6920 |doi=10.1046/j.1365-3040.2001.00681.x|bibcode=2001PCEnv..24..293H }} To date, Tamarix has taken over large sections of riparian ecosystems in the western United States that were once home to native cottonwoods and willows,{{Cite journal |last=Christensen |first=E. M. |year=1962 |title=The Rate of Naturalization of Tamarix in Utah |journal=American Midland Naturalist |volume=68 |issue=1 |pages=51–57 |doi=10.2307/2422635 |jstor=2422635}}{{Cite journal |last=Stromberg |first=J. C. |year=1998 |title=Dynamics of Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii) and saltcedar (Tamarix chinesis) populations along the San Pedro River, Arizona |journal=Journal of Arid Environments |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=133–155 |bibcode=1998JArEn..40..133S |doi=10.1006/jare.1998.0438}}{{Cite journal |display-authors=4 |vauthors=Zamora-Arroyo F, Nagler PL, Briggs M, Radtke D, Rodriquez H, Garcia J, Valdes C, Huete A, Glenn EP |year=2001 |title=Regeneration of native trees in response to flood releases from the United States into the delta of the Colorado River, Mexico |journal=Journal of Arid Environments |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=49–64 |bibcode=2001JArEn..49...49Z |doi=10.1006/jare.2001.0835}}{{Cite journal |last=Zavaleta |first=E. |date=December 2000 |title=The economic value of controlling an invasive shrub |journal=Ambio: A Journal of the Human Environment |volume=29 |issue=8 |pages=462–467 |doi=10.1639/0044-7447(2000)029[0462:tevoca]2.0.co;2}} and are projected by some to spread well beyond the current range.{{cite journal |display-authors=4 |vauthors=Morisette JT, Jarnevich CS, Ullah A, Cai W, Pedelty JA, Gentle JE, Stohlgren TJ, Schnase JL |date=2006 |title=A tamarisk habitat suitability map for the continental United States |journal=Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=11–17 |doi=10.1890/1540-9295(2006)004[0012:ATHSMF]2.0.CO;2}}

In a 2013 study which examined if native plant growth was hindered by the microbiota associated with the presence of Tamarix, a relatively new invasive plant to the northern United States, Elymus lanceolatus and other native plants in fact grew better when a small soil sample from areas where Tamarix trees grew was mixed in with the potting soil, as opposed to samples without these plants. This was thought to indicate the presence of beneficial mycorrhizae. The presence of Tamarix plants has also been shown to boost soil fertility in a number of studies, and it also increases soil salinity. Two studies found that Tamarix plants are able to limit the recruitment of Salix and Populus tree species, in the latter case possibly due to interfering with the trees ability to form symbiotic relationships with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, in contrast to the grass and legume species studied in 2013.{{cite journal |vauthors=Lenhoff EA, Menalled FD |year=2013 |title=Impacts of Tamarix-mediated soil changes on restoration plant growth |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264336484 |journal=Applied Vegetation Science |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=438–447 |bibcode=2013AppVS..16..438L |doi=10.1111/avsc.12011}}

Because it is much more efficient at both obtaining water from drying soil and conserving water during drought, it can outcompete many native species, especially after the habitat is altered by controlling flood regimes and disturbance of water sources. Because the trees are able to concentrate salts on the outside of their leaves, dense stands of the tree will form a layer of high salinity on the topsoil as the leaves are shed. Although this layer is easily washed off during flooding events, in areas where the rivers are channelled and floods are controlled, this salty layer inhibits the germination of a number of native plants. However, a study involving more than a thousand soil samples across gradients of both flood frequency and Tamarix density concluded that "flooding may be the most important factor for assessing floodplain salinity" and "soils under Tamarix canopies had lower surface soil salinity than open areas deprived of flooding suggesting that surface evaporation may contribute more to surface soil salinity than Tamarix".{{cite thesis |author=Ohrtman, M. |title=Quantifying soil and groundwater chemistry in areas invaded by Tamarix spp. along the Middle Rio Grande, New Mexico |date=2009 |access-date=2021-10-15 |type=PhD dissertation |publisher=University of Denver |url=http://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/485/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022225745/https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/485/ |archive-date=2021-10-22 |url-status=live}}

Tamarix species are commonly believed to disrupt the structure and stability of North American native plant communities and degrade native wildlife habitat, by outcompeting and replacing native plant species, salinizing soils, monopolizing limited sources of moisture, and increasing the frequency, intensity, and effect of fires and floods {{citation needed|date=October 2021}}. While individual plants may not consume larger quantities of water than native species,{{cite journal |last=Anderson |first=B. W. |year=1996 |title=Salt cedar, revegetation and riparian ecosystems in the Southwest |journal=Proceedings of the California Exotic Pest Plant Council, Symposium '95. California Exotic Pest Plant Council, Pacific Grove, California |pages=32–41}}.{{cite journal |last=Anderson |first=B. W. |year=1998 |title=The case for salt cedar |journal=Restoration and Management Notes |volume=16 |pages=130–134, 138}} large, dense stands of tamarisk do consume more water than equivalent stands of native cottonwoods.{{cite journal |last1=Sala |first1=Anna |last2=Smith |first2=Stanley D. |last3=Devitt |first3=Dale A. |date=August 1996 |title=Water Use by Tamarix ramosissima and Associated Phreatophytes in a Mojave Desert Floodplain |journal=Ecological Applications |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=888–898 |bibcode=1996EcoAp...6..888S |doi=10.2307/2269492 |jstor=2269492}} An active and ongoing debate exists as to when the tamarisk can out-compete native plants, and if it is actively displacing native plants or it just taking advantage of disturbance by removal of natives by humans and changes in flood regimens.{{cite journal |last1=Cooper |first1=D. |last2=Merritt |first2=David M. |last3=Andersen |first3=Douglas C. |last4=Chimner |first4=Rodney A. |year=1999 |title=Factors Controlling the Establishment of Fremont Cottonwood Seedlings on the Upper Green River, USA |journal=Regulated Rivers: Research & Management |volume=15 |issue=5 |pages=419–440 |citeseerx=10.1.1.208.7367 |doi=10.1002/(SICI)1099-1646(199909/10)15:5<419::AID-RRR555>3.0.CO;2-Y}}{{cite journal |last1=Cooper |first1=D. |last2=Andersen |first2=Douglas C. |last3=Chimner |first3=Rodney A. |year=2003 |title=Multiple pathways for woody plant establishment on floodplains at local to regional scales |journal=Journal of Ecology |volume=91 |issue=2 |pages=182–196 |bibcode=2003JEcol..91..182C |doi=10.1046/j.1365-2745.2003.00766.x |doi-access=free}}{{cite journal |last=Everitt |first=B. L. |year=1980 |title=Ecology of saltcedar - a plea for research |journal=Environmental Geology |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=77–84 |bibcode=1980EnGeo...3...77E |doi=10.1007/BF02473474 |s2cid=128624735}}{{cite journal |last=Everitt |first=B. L. |year=1998 |title=Chronology of the spread of Tamarisk in the central Rio Grande |journal=Wetlands |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=658–668 |bibcode=1998Wetl...18..658E |doi=10.1007/BF03161680 |s2cid=33405892}}{{Cite journal |last=Stromberg |first=J. C. |year=1998 |title=Functional equivalency of saltcedar (Tamarix chinensis) and Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii) along a free-flowing river |journal=Wetlands |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=675–686 |bibcode=1998Wetl...18..675S |doi=10.1007/BF03161682 |s2cid=6443419}}

Pest populations of tamarisk in the United States can be dealt with in several ways. The National Park Service has used the methods of physically removing the plants, spraying them with herbicides, and introducing northern tamarisk beetles (Diorhabda carinulata) in the national park system. Various attempts to control tamarisk have been implemented on federal lands including Dinosaur National Monument, San Andres National Wildlife Refuge, and White Sands Missile Range.{{cite journal |last1=Adams |first1=Aaron |date=2021 |title=Treating Invasive Tamarisk as an Intern at San Andres National Wildlife Refuge |url=https://gammathetaupsilon.org/the-geographical-bulletin/2020s/volume62-2/B/article3.pdf |url-status=live |journal=The Geographical Bulletin |volume=62 |issue=2 |pages=101–103 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302193602/https://gammathetaupsilon.org/the-geographical-bulletin/2020s/volume62-2/B/article3.pdf |archive-date=2 March 2023 |access-date=23 March 2022}}{{cite press release |title=Our newest weed warriors |date=8 January 2009 |publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior |url=http://www.nps.gov/dino/planyourvisit/upload/2009BeetleWeb.pdf |access-date=31 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306111800/https://www.nps.gov/dino/planyourvisit/upload/2009BeetleWeb.pdf |archive-date=6 March 2019 |department=Dinosaur National Monument, National Park Service}} — describes saltcedar controls, incl. 2006–2007 release of tamarisk beetles into Dinosaur National Monument. After years of study, the USDA Agricultural Research Service found that the introduced tamarisk beetles (Diorhabda elongata) eat only the tamarisk, and starve when no more is available, not eating any plants native to North America.{{cite journal |last1=Tracy |first1=J.L. |last2=Robbins |first2=T.O. |year=2009 |title=Taxonomic revision and biogeography of the Tamarix-feeding Diorhabda elongata {{small|(Brullé, 1832)}} species group (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae: Galerucini) and analysis of their potential in biological control of Tamarisk |url=http://www.mapress.com./zootaxa/2009/f/zt02101p152.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Zootaxa |volume=2101 |pages=1–152 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.2101.1.1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306100548/http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2009/f/zt02101p152.pdf |archive-date=2012-03-06 |access-date=2010-06-10}}

• Tamarisk species, notably T. ramosissima and T. tetrandra.{{cite web |title=Tamarisk Shrub |url=https://www.best4hedging.co.uk/tamarisk-hedge-plants-p184 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602215656/https://www.best4hedging.co.uk/tamarisk-hedge-plants-p184 |archive-date=2 June 2021 |access-date=31 May 2021 |website=www.best4hedging.co.uk}} are used as ornamental shrubs, windbreaks, and shade trees:{{cite web |date=3 July 2018 |title=Invasive Species Profile: Tamarisk |url=https://cirweb.org/blog/2018/7/3/invasive-species-profile-tamarisk |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602214130/https://cirweb.org/blog/2018/7/3/invasive-species-profile-tamarisk |archive-date=2 June 2021 |access-date=31 May 2021 |website=Channel Islands Restoration}}
• In the Southwest of the United states of America, tamarisk was introduced to help erosion control.{{cite journal |last1=Everitt |first1=Benjamin |date=1998 |title=Chronology of the spread of tamarisk in the central Rio Grande |journal=Wetlands |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=658–668 |bibcode=1998Wetl...18..658E |doi=10.1007/BF03161680 |s2cid=33405892}}
• In Greece recipes may call for tamarix (salt cedar) – known locally as almyriki{{citation needed|date=November 2024}} –  for cooking and eating as a wild green vegetable.{{cite web |last1=Sakelliou |first1=Katerina |title=Salt Cedar Salad - Horta |url=https://katerinaskouzina.com/recipe-items/salt-cedar-salad-horta/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230112032827/https://katerinaskouzina.com/recipe-items/salt-cedar-salad-horta/ |archive-date=12 January 2023 |access-date=12 January 2023 |website=Katerina's Kouzina |quote=Another such plant is the tamarix or salt cedar [...]. [...] The salt cedar is one of the wild edible greens – horta – that we eat in Greece.}}
• On the steppes of Central Asia, the Saka may have used tamarisk wood (combined with horn) to produce tremendously powerful bows hundreds of years before the common era.{{cite journal |last1=Karpowicz |first1=Adam |last2=Selby |first2=Stephen |date=2010 |title=Scythian Bow From Xinjang |url=http://www.atarn.org/chinese/Yanghai/Scythian_bow_ATARN.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Journal of the Soc. Of Archer-Antiquaries |volume=53 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518165726/http://atarn.org/chinese/Yanghai/Scythian_bow_ATARN.pdf |archive-date=2011-05-18 |access-date=2019-03-01 |quote=The materials used in the construction of the original bows have not been established, however. The wood could be tentatively identified as that of tamarisk, which is available abundantly in the region and is known to have been the material used to make bows in other periods.}}
• The wood may be used for carpentry or firewood: it is a possible agroforestry species.[http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/cropView?id=10274 Tamarix aphylla] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215011230/http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/cropView?id=10274|date=2009-02-15}}, in Ecocrop.{{cite web |author=Abigail Klein Leichman |date=November 7, 2011 |title=Growing forests in the desert |url=http://israel21c.org/environment/growing-forests-in-the-desert |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111110101541/http://www.israel21c.org/environment/growing-forests-in-the-desert |archive-date=November 10, 2011 |access-date=November 23, 2011 |website=israel21c.org}}
• At certain times of year, scale insects feeding upon the tender twigs of tamarisk plants excrete a sweet substance known as honeydew, which has been gathered for use as a food source and sweetener for thousands of years. The substance is also known locally as "manna", and some scholars have suggested that this substance is the biblical manna that fed the Israelites during their flight from Egypt, though others dispute this interpretation.{{cite journal |last1=Bodenheimer |first1=F.S. |date=Feb 1947 |title=The Manna of Sinai |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3209227 |url-status=live |journal=The Biblical Archaeologist |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=2–6 |doi=10.2307/3209227 |jstor=3209227 |s2cid=165249625 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118215400/https://www.jstor.org/stable/3209227 |archive-date=2022-01-18 |access-date=2022-01-18|url-access=subscription }}
• Tamarisks play a role in anti-desertification programs in China.[http://www.ambchine.mu/eng/xwdt/t369657.htm Tree by Tree, China Rolls Back Deserts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150517044251/http://www.ambchine.mu/eng/xwdt/t369657.htm|date=2015-05-17}}.{{failed verification|date=November 2024}}[http://www.asiawaterwire.net/node/466 Taklamakan – Where Oil and Water Don't Mix] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029131108/http://www.asiawaterwire.net/node/466|date=2008-10-29}} - "A green belt of anti-desertification plant species such as Chinese tamarisk, honey tree and sacsaoul, was planted in 2003 all along the 466 km of the road's desert stretch to hold off the sands."

The tamarisk was introduced to the United States as an ornamental shrub, a windbreak, and a shade tree in the early 19th century. In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, tree-planting was used as a tool to fight soil erosion on the Great Plains, and different trees were planted by the millions in the Great Plains Shelterbelt, including salt cedars.{{cite news |first=Kirk |last=Johnson |title=War With Riverbank Invader, Waged by Muscle and Munching |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/27/us/27tamarisk.html?hp |work=The New York Times |date=December 26, 2008 |access-date=2008-12-27 |archive-date=2023-03-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302193627/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/27/us/27tamarisk.html?hp |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/profile/saltcedar |title=Saltcedar_USDA National Agricultural Library |access-date=2019-08-21 |archive-date=2019-08-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190821110235/https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/profile/saltcedar |url-status=live }}

Eight species are found in North America. They can be divided into two subgroups:

; Evergreen species

Tamarix aphylla (Athel tree), a large evergreen tree, does not sexually reproduce in the local climate and is not considered a seriously invasive species. The Athel tree is commonly used for windbreaks on the edge of agricultural fields and as a shade tree in the deserts of the Southwestern United States.Sharma, U., Kataria, V., & Shekhawat, N. S. (2017) Aeroponics for adventitious rhizogenesis in evergreen haloxeric tree Tamarix aphylla (L.) Karst.: influence of exogenous auxins and cutting type. Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants, 24(1):167–174 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12298-017-0493-0 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302193559/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12298-017-0493-0 |date=2023-03-02 }}

; Deciduous species

The second subgroup contains the deciduous tamarisks, which are small, shrubby trees, commonly known as "saltcedars". These include T. pentandra, T. tetrandra, T. gallica, T. chinensis, T. ramosissima and T. parviflora.

File:Almirithra.JPG island, Greece]]

• A disputation poem dating to the 18th century BC, Tamarisk and Palm, features a personified tamarisk debating the date-palm over who is better.{{Cite book |last=Jiménez |first=Enrique |title=The Babylonian disputation poems |date=2017 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-33625-4 |series= |location= |pages=23–28}}
• In Genesis 21:33, Abraham is recorded to have "planted a tamarisk at Beer-sheba".The KJV has the word "grove", but the NKJV has "tamarisk". The Hebrew word is different from that translated as "grove" elsewhere in the KJV Old Testament. He had built a well there, earlier.Tyndale New Living Translation.{{full citation needed|date=March 2021}} In 1 Samuel 22:6, Saul is sitting under a tamarisk tree on a hill at Gibeah when he learns that David has returned to Judah.
• In 1 Samuel 31:13, Saul's bones are buried under a tamarisk tree in Jabesh.
• In the Quran 34:16, the people of Saba were punished when "[Allah] converted their two garden (rows) into gardens producing bitter fruit and tamarisks...".
• Wedgwood made a "Tamarisk" china pattern.{{cite web |title=Wedgwood, Tamarisk |publisher=Replacements, Ltd. |url=https://www.replacements.com/china-wedgwood-tamarisk/c/114437 |access-date=31 May 2021 |archive-date=2 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602214701/https://www.replacements.com/china-wedgwood-tamarisk/c/114437 |url-status=live }}
• In the Iliad 10:465 Odysseus buries the spoils from a captured Trojan spy under a tamarisk tree, and marks their spot with reeds and tamarisk shoots. The spoils (a polecat cap, wolfskin cloak, long spear and bow) are dedicated to the goddess Athena.

{{Reflist}}

• {{ Cite journal |last=Christensen| first=E. M. |title=The Rate of Naturalization of Tamarix in Utah |journal=American Midland Naturalist |year=1962| volume=68| issue=1 |pages=51–57 |doi=10.2307/2422635 |jstor=2422635}}

{{Commons|Tamarix}}

{{wiktionary}}

{{EB1911 poster|Tamarisk}}

• [https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/profile/saltcedar Species Profile - Saltcedar (Tamarix spp.)], National Invasive Species Information Center, United States National Agricultural Library. Lists general information and resources for Saltcedar.
• [http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF=&GENUS_XREF=Tamarix&SPECIES_XREF=&TAXON_NAME_XREF=&RANK=species Flora Europaea Tamarix]
• [https://www.invasive.org/alien/fact/tama1.htm Least Wanted: Salt Cedar], Plant Conservation Alliance's Alien Plant Working Group
• [https://www.solutions-site.org/node/81 Tamarix], a natural resource on which the communities depend for fuelwood, tools, and basket making.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090418224510/http://www.nps.gov/dino/planyourvisit/upload/2009BeetleWeb.pdf Introduction of the Tamarisk Beetle in Dinosaur National Monument]
• [http://cisr.ucr.edu/saltcedar.html Saltcedar – Center for Invasive Species Research], University of California

{{Taxonbar|from=Q164163}}

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus