Tamarix ramosissima

Shrub or small tree, 1-5 in tall, with reddish or reddish brown bark. Leaves sessile, ovate or deltoid cordate, 2-4 (-5) mm long, 1-2 mm broad acute, somewhat subamplexicaul. Inflorescence aestival and vernal both, aestival densely compound racemes, vernal simple, loose, 1-5 (-7) cm long, 3-4 (-5) mm broad on 0.2-1 cm long peduncles. Bracts ovate, trullate, triangular 1.5-2 mm long, 0.5 mm broad, acute, acuminate, with denticulate margin especially in their lower parts, pedicel very small, 0.5 mm long. Flowers pentamerous. Calyx 0.75-1.25 mm long, sepals 0.5-1 mm long inner 3 much broader than the outer 2, ovate, acute, irregularly denticulate with somewhat scarious margin. Petals pink to pinkish purple rarely white, obovate-elliptic obovate, inequilateral, slightly notched at the apex 1.25-1.75 mm long, 0.75-1 mm broad, persistent. Stamens 5, filaments filiform 2.5-3 mm long, inserted in between the lobes of the disc i.e. mesodiscine disc, lobes of the disc deeply emarginate, insertion hypodiscal, anthers obtuse. Styles 3, clavate, connivent, ovary stipitate. Capsule trigonous, 4-5 mm long, 0.75-1 mm broad, dehiscing by 3 longitudinal slits.

Most saltcedars, or tamarisks, are deciduous shrubs or small trees growing to 12-15 feet in height and forming dense thickets. Tamarix aphylla is an evergreen tree that can grow to 50 feet tall and tends to flower during the winter. Saltcedars are characterized by slender branches and gray-green foliage. The bark of young branches is smooth and reddish-brown. As the plants age, the bark becomes brownish-purple, ridged and furrowed. Leaves are scale-like, about 1/16 inch long and overlap each other along the stem. They are often encrusted with salt secretions. From March to September, large numbers of pink to white flowers appear in dense masses on 2-inch long spikes at branch tips.

Shrubs or small trees, 1-3(-6) m tall. Old branches dark gray; growing branches of current year ascending, reddish or orange-yellow, long. Leaves of growing branches lanceolate, semiamplexicaul, slightly decurrent; those of vegetative branches broadly ovate-orbicular or triangular-cordate, 2-5 mm, base decurrent, nearly amplexicaul, apex acute. Racemes terminal on branches of current year, clustered into terminal panicles, (0.5-)3-5(-8) cm × 3-5 mm; peduncles 2-10 mm; bracts lanceolate, ovate-lanceolate, linear-subulate, or ovate-oblong, 1.5-2(-2.8) mm, equaling or exceeding calyx, apex acuminate. Pedicels 0.5-0.7 mm, shorter than or ca. as long as calyx. Flowers 5-merous. Calyx 0.5-1 mm; sepals broadly elliptic-ovate or ovate, apex acuminate or obtuse; inner 3 wider than outer 2, 0.5-0.7 × 0.3-0.5 mm, margin narrowly membranous, irregularly dentate, not carinate. Petals pink or purple, obovate to broadly elliptic-obovate, 1-1.7 × 0.7-1 mm, ca. 1/3 longer than calyx, apex emarginate, ascending, contacting each other and forming a cup-shaped corolla, persistent in fruit. Disk 5-lobed; lobes emarginate at apex. Stamens 5, equaling or ca. 1.5 × exceeding corolla; filaments not dilated at base, inserted between disk lobes; anthers obtuse or with obtuse protrusions at apex. Ovary conic, triqueter; styles 3, clavate, 1/4-1/3 as long as ovary. Capsule triqueter, conic, 3-5 mm, 3-4 × as long as calyx. Fl. May-Sep. 2n = 24*.

Saltcedar was introduced to the western U.S. as an ornamental shrub in the early 1800s.

Saltcedar occurs in the intermountain region of the western United States, throughout the Great Basin, and California and Texas.

Eurasia and Africa 

Tamarix ramosissima Ledeb.:
Afghanistan (Asia)
Mongolia (Asia)
Russian Federation (Asia)
United States (North America)
China (Asia)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

Canada

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

United States

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

Distribution: Korea, China, Mongolia, Russia, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Saltcedar establishes in disturbed and undisturbed streams, waterways, bottomlands, banks and drainage washes of natural or artificial waterbodies, moist rangelands and pastures, and other areas where seedlings can be exposed to extended periods of saturated soil for establishment. Saltcedar can grow on highly saline soils containing up to 15,000 ppm soluble salt and can tolerate alkali conditions.

Riversides, river valleys, sandy or clayey salty plains, sand dunes. Gansu, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Xinjiang, W Xizang [Afghanistan, Mongolia; C and SW Asia, E Europe].

Fl. Per.: June

Saltcedar spreads vegetatively, by adventitious roots or submerged stems, and sexually. Each flower can produce thousands of tiny (1/25-inch 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.

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

Rounded Global Status Rank: GNR - Not Yet Ranked

Saltcedars are fire-adapted species and have long tap roots that allow them to intercept deep water tables and interfere with natural aquatic systems. Saltcedar disrupts the structure and stability of native plant communities and degrades native wildlife habitat by outcompeting and replacing native plant species, monopolizing limited sources of moisture, and increasing the frequency, intensity and effect of fires and floods. Although it provides some shelter, the foliage and flowers of saltcedar provide little food value for native wildlife species that depend on nutrient-rich native plant resources.