Tamarix aphylla

Tamarix aphylla also known as Tamarisk, Salt Cedar Approximately 50-60 flowering plant varieties in the Tamaricaceae group, original to Eurasia and Africa. These are evergreen or fecestry shrubs or trees up to a height of 1-18 m that form dense thickets, Tamarix aphylla, the largest is an evergreen tree that can grow up to a height of 18 m. They typically grow on salt soils, tolerate up to 15,000 ppm of soluble salt and also can withstand alkaline conditions. Tamarisks have slender branches and lush foliage. The yellow parts of bark are flat and reddish-brown. The bark is brownish-purple, broken and furrowed as the plants mature. The leaves are 1-2 mm in length and converge along the stem. Sometimes they are trapped in salt secretions. In dense masses, pink to white flowers occur at branch tips between 5 and 10 cm in length, from March to September, although some species (e.g. T. aphylla) continue to flower during winter. Tamarix can be transmitted by adventitious or submerged stems vegetatively, and by seed sexually. That flora can produce thousands of small seeds (1 mm in diameter) which are typically embellished with a tuft of hair which helps to disperse the winds. Seeds can also be spread by wind. For planting, seedlings need prolonged periods of soil saturation. Tamarix species are fire adapted and have long roots that allow deep water tables to be intercepted and natural water supplies to be exploited. They can reduce competition from other trees by taking salt from deeper groundwater, storing it in their leaves, and then transferring it in the surface soil where it creates concentrations temporarily harmful to other plants. During heavy rain, the salt is washed away. Tamarix trees are spread through cuttings most frequently.