''Tamarix aphylla'' is the largest known species of ''

Tamarix The genus ''Tamarix'' (tamarisk, salt cedar, taray) is composed of about 50–60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa. The generic name originated in Latin and may refer to the Tam ...

'', with heights up to . The species has a variety of

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

s, including Athel tamarisk, Athel tree, and Athel pine. It is an

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

tree, native across North, East, and Central Africa, through the Middle East, and into parts of Western and Southern Asia.

Distribution

''Tamarix aphylla'' is found along watercourses in arid areas. It is very resistant to saline and alkaline soils. Its range extends from latitude 35°N to 0°N, and its W–E range extends from

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

and

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, eastwards to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, and south to the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

and into Kenya. It is found in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

and the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...

, east through

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, and into

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Description

''Tamarix aphylla'' grows as a tree to high. The tiny leaves are alternately arranged along the branches, and exude salt, which can form a crusted layer on the surface, and drip onto the ground beneath. The species can reproduce by seed, by suckering, or from a cutting. It blooms between July till November.

Uses

''Tamarix aphylla'' has been used as a windbreak and shade tree in agriculture and

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

for decades, especially in dryer regions such as the western United States and central and western Australia. Due to its higher fire adaptability, it can be used as a barrier to fire. Even when dry, the wood of ''Tamarix'' is difficult to burn, due to the high ash content (30–40%) and higher salt content of its foliage. After a fire it usually regrows, unless the root-crown is destroyed. The nectar from the blossoms of ''Tamarix aphylla'' produces high-quality honey with a unique taste. Due to the drought- and salt-tolerant properties of the tree, it could be planted as an agroforestry species, as well as for reclamation of marginal lands. A vegetative propagation method for the tree using the aeroponics technique has recently been developed.

Australia

Within these regions, it has spread, most dramatically and noticeably in central

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

after the floods of 1974 along the

Finke River The Finke River, or ''Larapinta'' (Arrernte), is a river in central Australia, one of four main rivers of the Lake Eyre Basin and thought to be the oldest riverbed in the world. It flows for only a few days a year and when this happens, its wate ...

in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

. Since then it has become a serious weed and

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

in the Northern Territory and Western Australia. The species had been present for many decades without much spread before this. It tends to use more water than most

native plant In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equ ...

s in Australia, which it outcompetes. It has replaced the indigenous

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...

along watercourses in the interior. It has been declared a weed of national significance in Australia.

United States

It is commonly used for

windbreak A windbreak (shelterbelt) is a planting usually made up of one or more rows of trees or shrubs planted in such a manner as to provide shelter from the wind and to protect soil from erosion. They are commonly planted in hedgerows around the edges ...

s on the edges of agricultural fields and as a

shade tree A shade tree is a large tree whose primary role is to provide shade in the surrounding environment due to its spreading canopy (forest), canopy and crown (botany), crown, where it may give shelter from sunlight in the heat of the summer for peopl ...

in the

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

s of the Southwestern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. This species has not naturalized in areas of the United States where it has been grown, unlike other species in the genus ''

'' that are vigorously invasive.

History

Most botanists and Bible scholars believe that the ''eshel'' tree planted by

Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...

in the

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning") ...

, was ''Tamarix aphylla'',

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

wrote that its name was derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

'' 'a''' "without", and'' 'phyllon "leaf". In

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

, the tree is called ''farash'' () and in Punjabi, it is called ''kooan'' (). In Baluchi, it is called ''shakargaaz'' or ''siahgaaz''. In Saraiki, it is called Khagal.

Chemistry

2,6-Digalloyl glucose and 3,6-digalloyl glucose are

gallotannin A gallotannin is any of a class of molecules belonging to the hydrolysable tannins. Gallotannins are polymers formed when gallic acid, a polyphenol monomer, esterifies and binds with the hydroxyl group of a polyol carbohydrate such as glucose. Meta ...

s found in

gall Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissues of plants, fungi, or animals. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to be ...

s of ''T. aphylla''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2889746

aphylla ''Aphylla'' is a widespread Neotropical genus of dragonflies of the Gomphidae family. They are commonly known as the greater forceptails because of their forceps Forceps (plural forceps or considered a plural noun without a singular, often a ...

Flora of North Africa Flora of Western Asia Trees of Africa Flora of Eritrea Flora of Libya Flora of Algeria Flora of Egypt Flora of Chad Flora of Sudan Flora of Pakistan Garden plants of Africa Drought-tolerant trees Flora of Israel Flora of Palestine (region) Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus