Tamaricaceae

Plant Characteristics

Cultivation

Scientific Names

Read about Tamaricaceae in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Tamaricaceae (from the genus Tamarix, said to have been named from the river Tamaris, now Tambro, on the border of the Pyrenees). Tamarisk Family. Fig. 39. Shrubs or small trees, with alternate, mostly needle-like or scale-like, ericoid leaves: flowers bisexual, regular; sepals 4-5; petals 5, imbricated, withering and drying persistent; stamens equal to and alternate with the petals or double the number, inserted on a more or less evident disk; ovary superior, 1-celled, with 3-4 parietal placentas, or placenta basal; ovules 2 to many; styles 3-4, or stigmas sessile; seeds densely bearded at distal end, rarely winged: fruit a capsule, sometimes becoming falsely and incompletely several-celled. The 5 genera and about 90-100 species are mainly distributed in the Mediterranean region and in central Asia. The family is related to the Frankeniaceae and Elatinaceae; possibly also to the Salicaceae. The ericoid habit, withering-persistent petals, definite stamens, 1-celled ovary and bearded seeds are distinctive. By means of small leaves, sunken stomata, water-storing tissue, and other contrivances, the Tamaricaceae are adapted for life in the dry saline regions in which they live. Foliage-glands excrete an excess of absorbed mineral matter, and this very hygroscopic excretion accumulates on the surface of the plant. The Tamaricaceae contain much tannin, resin and oils, which render them bitter and astringent. The bark of Myricaria germanica has been used for jaundice; the galls of some species are used because astringent. Tamarix mannifera, "which grows on Mount Sinai and elsewhere in Arabia, secretes, as the result of the puncture of a cynips, a saccharine matter, supposed by some to be the manna which fed the Hebrews in the desert." (See also Fraxinus Ornus.) None of the genera in cultivation in N. America is very hardy: Tamarix (Tamarisk); Myricaria, all grown for the queer, fluffy foliage, and small, abundant flowers. CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

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