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Saltcedar
Common
Name(s):
Saltcedar
Tamarisk
Scientific
Name:
Tamarix
ramosissima Ledeb.
Scientific
Name Synonyms:
Tamarix chinensis Lour.
Symbol:
TARA
Description:
Life Span: Perennial
Origin:
Introduced
Season: Deciduous
Growth Characteristics:
Originally
introduced as an ornamental in the 1800's, saltcedar is a long-lived
(50-100 yrs), dense growing shrub or tree, growing 6 to 26 feet
tall. The crown is narrow or rounded. Saltcedar has a deep taproot
and extensive lateral rhizomes. Secondary root branching is profuse
upon contact with water. Flowering occurs from March through September.
It reproduces from seeds, as well as root sprouts.
Flowers/Inflorescence:
Flowers
are white to pink, each 1/16-inch long, and grow in long (1-2 inches),
narrow, drooping cluster. Flowers are primarily insect pollinated.
It generally does not begin to flower until its third year of growth.
Fruits/Seeds:A
mature saltcedar can produce 600,000 seeds annually. Seeds are very
small with a tuft of hair at one end, which aids in dissemination
by wind and water.
Leaves: Scale-like,
bluish-green leaves, growing up to 1/16 inch long. Dead leaves are
often retained on the tree into the winter.
Stems: Branches
are smooth, slender, flexible, and break off easily. The bark of
saltcedar is smooth, becoming furrowed and ridged with age. The
wood is soft and white.
Ecological
Adaptations:
Saltcedar
commonly occurs along floodplains, riverbanks, stream courses, salt
flats, marshes, and irrigation ditches in arid regions of Utah at
elevations from 4,200 to 7,000 feet. It often forms pure thickets
that extend for miles.
Once established, saltcedar can tolerate both drought and flooding.
By shedding its leaves and halting growth, it can withstand lengthy
drought periods. It can also survive inundation by water for up
to 3 months.
Saltcedars roots may penetrate the soil 30 feet or more. It's dense
roots and rhizomes spread out and slow river flow, which increases
deposition, and can cause rechanneling of streams and rivers.
Soils: Grows
well on moist sandy, sandy loam, loamey, and clayey soil textures.
It has a wide range of tolerance to saline and alkaline soils and
water. Leaf drop increases the salinity of the surface soil causing
the white color and the name saltcedar.
Associated Species:
Coyote
willow, Fremont cottonwood,
greasewood.
Uses and
Management:
Saltcedar
changes the ecology and hydrology of riparian systems. It has one
of the highest evapotranspiration rates of any riparian shrub, removing
water from the soil and releasing it through the leaves. Water loss
caused by saltcedar can range to 13 acre-feet per year. Sites invaded
by saltcedar can become drier, and stream flows reduced. Because
of this, saltcedar communities are generally less valuable to any
life form than the native riparian plant communities it replaces.
It does provide nesting for birds, and is an important pollen source
for honeybees. It is also used by blacktailed jackrabbits as a major
food source. It is relatively unpalatable to most classes of livestock
and wildlife.
Saltcedar has been planted for erosion control and windbreaks because
it is one of the few species capable of colonizing and stabilizing
extremely saline soils.
When control is needed, saltcedar is difficult or impossible to
kill by burning, drought, freezing, hypersalinity, prolonged submersion,
or repeated cutting at ground level. However, saltcedar can be controlled
using a combination of methods, usually involving herbicide application
as one of the methods.
Medicinally, saltcedar species have been used to treat stomach troubles,
diarrhea, rheumatism, rickets, and as astringents and antiseptics.
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