Tamarix

Read about Tamarix in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
Tamarix (ancient Latin name). Tamaricaceae. Tamarisk. Ornamental woody plants, grown chiefly for their showy panicles or racemes of pink or whitish flowers; and also for their very fine graceful foliage. Deciduous shrubs or trees: lvs. alternate, sessile, often sheathing, small, and scale-like: fls. small, short-pedicelled or sessile, in rather dense racemes, usually collected into terminal panicles; sepals and petals 4-5; stamens usually 4-5, rarely 8-12, sometimes slightly connate at the base; ovary 1-celled, surrounded at the base by a more or less deeply 5- or 10-lobed disk; styles 2-5, clavate or short and thick: fr. a caps., dehiscent into 3-5 valves; seeds many, minute, with a tuft of hairs at the apex.—About 75 species from the Medit. region to E. India and Japan. Several species have medicinal properties and yield dye-stuffs. The punctures of an insect, Coccus manniparus, cause T. mannifera to produce "manna." The tamarisks are very graceful shrubs or small trees with slender branches clothed with minute scale-like appressed leaves, and with usually light pink small flowers in large and loose terminal panicles or in numerous lateral racemes, followed by small capsular fruits. None of the species is quite hardy North, but T. pentandra, T. odessana, T. gallica, and T. parviflora are fairly hardy as far north as Massachusetts. Several of the species bloom late in summer and are a welcome addition to the autumn-flowering shrubs. As they are inhabitants of warmer arid regions, they are adapted for dry-land conditions, and they also grow well in saline and alkaline soil. They are excellent for seaside planting and thrive in the very spray of the salt water. Propagation is by seeds, which are very fine and should be only slightly covered, or usually by cuttings of ripened wood in the open ground or by greenwood cuttings under glass. T. africana, Poir. Allied to T. juniperina. Racemes 2-3 in. long: fls. very short-pedicelled: styles slenderer. Medit. region. Apparently not in cult.; the plant offered in trade under this name is usually T. parviflora.—T. algerica or T. algeriensis, Hort., is probably T. gallica; no species has been described under these names. The Algerian species are: T. gallica, Linn., T. brachystylis, Gay, T. bounopaea, Gay, T. africana, Poir., T. Balansae, Gay, T. rubella, Battand., T. pauciovulata, Gay, and T. articulata, Vaht.—T. anglica, Webb. Allied to T. gallica. Shrub, to 10 ft.: lvs. bluish green, somewhat constricted at the base: fls. ovate in bud; filaments filiform at the base, attached to the acute lobes of the 5-angled disk. W. Eu. S.E.B. 2:261.—T. articulata, Vahl. Tree, attaining 30 ft., with slender, jointed branches: lvs. glaucous, minute, sheathing: fls. 5-merous, pink, sessile, in terminal panicles. W. Asia. Not hardy N.—T. dahurica, Willd.-Myricaria dahurica. —T. germanica, Linn.-Myricaria germanica.—T. rubella, Battand. Allied to T. parviflora. Tree or shrub with red erect branches: lvs. minute, imbricate: bracts ovate, acute, almost as long as calyx; calyx-segms. 4; petals 4, rose; stamens 4, with long filaments and dark purple anthers. Algeria. 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.

Family: Tamaricaceae

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Species

Unknown

Unknown species, Algeria