Description

Deciduous or evergreen shrubs or small trees reaching 5 to 20 feet tall and forming dense thickets; saltcedar are characterized by slender, long branches and gray-green foliage; bark of young trees is smooth and reddish-brown, as the plant ages, the bark becomes brownish-purple, ridged and furrowed.

Leaves: Leaves are small (about 1/16 inch long), scale-like, alternate and overlap one another, on highly branched, slender stems.

Flowers: Flowers March to September; large numbers of pink to white flowers, about 1/16 inch across, appear in a dense mass on 1/2 to 2 inch long spikes at branch tips.

Fruit: Greenish-yellow to pinkish-red capsules, 1/8 to 3/16 inch long, which split into 3 to 5 parts on maturity; seeds are less than 1/16 inch long, with a tuft of fine hairs at one end; the number of seeds per capsule is not constant; seeds are dispersed by wind to new locations.

Habitat: Tamarisk occurs in moist meadow and riparian communities, in drainage washes of natural or artificial water bodies, and in other areas where seedlings can be exposed to extended periods of saturated soil conditions for establishment; can grow on soils with up to 15,000 ppm soluble salt within elevations that generally range below 7,500 feet.

Propagation/Phenology: Reproduces primarily by seed, but root crowns can produce new shoots, especially when severed; seeds are dispersed by wind to new locations; seedlings require extended periods of soil saturation for establishment.

Comments: Native to Eurasia and Africa; heavy infestations of saltcedar are difficult to control; established plants have long roots that can tap deep water tables; absorbs large amounts of water and creates large deposits of salt. New Mexico Class C noxious weed and Texas noxious and invasive plant.

Information from the USDA USFS Invasive plants and weeds of the national forests and grasslands in the southwestern region. https://www.fs.fed.us/r3/resources/health/invasives/shrubsTrees/saltcedar.shtml#