Tamarix (tamarisks)

Genus: Tamarix (tamarisks)

Life > eukaryotes > Archaeoplastida > Chloroplastida > Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants) > Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants) > Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering plants) > Core Eudicots > Order: Caryophyllales

About 50-60 species, with one species of Tamarix that is native to southern Africa, four species that are naturalised, and a further three species that are cultivated in the region.

Species native to southern Africa

List from Plants of Southern Africa - an Online Checklist (SANBI).

Tamarix usneoides

Species naturalised in southern Africa

List from Plants of Southern Africa - an Online Checklist (SANBI).

Tamarix aphylla (Desert tamarisk, Athel tree) Native from North Africa to India.
Tamarix chinensis (Chinese tamarisk) Native to China and Japan. A declared Category 1 invasive plant in the Northern Cape, Western Cape and Eastern Cape, and a Category 3 invasive plant in the rest of South Africa.
Tamarix parviflora Native to eastern Mediterranean.
Tamarix ramosissima (Pink tamarisk) Native to central Asia. A declared Category 1 invasive plant in the Northern Cape, Western Cape and Eastern Cape, and a Category 3 invasive plant in the rest of South Africa.

Other species, cultivated in southern Africa

List from Glen (2002).

Tamarix gallica (French tamarisk)

Native to western Europe.

Tamarix indica

Native from Afghanistan to Bangladesh.

Tamarix tetrandra

Native from Russia to Syria.

Publications

Glen, H.F. 2002. Cultivated Plants of Southern Africa. Jacana, Johannesburg.