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Tamarix ramosissima

Common name:	Tamarisk	Family:	Tamaricaceae
Author:	Ledeb.	Botanical references:	11, 200
Synonyms:	Tamarix pentandra (Pall.), Tamarix pallasii (Desv.), Tamarix odessana (Steven. ex Bunge.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	E. Asia - S. Russia to China.
Habitat:	Saline soils[11].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	T. chinensis[B,C,CAL,E,G,HORTIPLEX,P] T. juniperina[G] T. laxa[G] T. pallasii var. brachystachys[G]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Ch'Eng Liu [E], Ch'Ieh Ch'Eng [E], Ch'Ui Liu [E], Ch'Ui Ssu Liu [E], Five-stamen Tamarisk [B], Fivestamen Tamarisk [P], Ho Liu [E], Salt Cedar [DEN2], Salt-cedar [B], Saltcedar [FEIS,P], San Ch'Un Liu [E], Tch'Eng Lieou [E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	ramosissima = branching the most
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Violales. Tamarix family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	China Indochina
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: Nevada, Washington.

Physical Characteristics

A decidious shrub growing to 4.5m by 3m at a medium rate. It is hardy to zone 2. It is in flower from August to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in heavy clay soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline and saline soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil. The plant can tolerate maritime exposure.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Hedge, Woodland, Sunny Edge.

Edible Uses

Manna.

A manna is produced by the plants in response to insect damage to the stems[177]. It is sweet and mucilaginous and is used in confectionery[183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

Hedge Soil stabilization.

Very tolerant of maritime exposure, it makes a good shelter hedge in coastal gardens[75]. It does not like being trimmed[75].
Plants have an extensive root system and can be used to control the erosion of sand dunes and other sandy soils[200].

Cultivation details

An easily grown plant, succeeding in most soils and tolerant of saline conditions[11]. This species is not found in saline soils in the wild and so might not be tolerant of them in cultivation[K]. Grows well in heavy clay soils as well as in sands and even shingle[182]. Usually found near the coast, it succeeds inland if given a fairly good deep loam and a sunny position[11, 200]. Tolerant of maritime winds and dry soils when grown near the coast[11], plants require a moister soil and shelter from cold drying winds when they are grown inland in non-saline soils because they use the soil salts that are found in saline soils to help them reduce transpiration[200].
This species flowers on the current year's growth[227]. Any pruning is best carried out in spring, hedges are also best trimmed at this time[188]. Plants are tolerant of severe pruning, sprouting freely from old wood[K].
Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[200].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a cold frame and only just cover the seed. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame. Very easy[200].
Cuttings of mature wood of the current seasons growth, 15 - 25cm long, planted outdoors in late autumn in a nursery bed or straight into their permanent position. High percentage[11, 200].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Web References

[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A& M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database
[FEIS] Data (Uses, Ecology, Fire Effects) from the USDA Forestry Service Fire Effects Information System.
[FEIS] Data (Uses, Ecology, Fire Effects) from the USDA Forestry Service Fire Effects Information System.

References for Tamarix chinensis (a possible synonym).

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database
[DEN] Data _ Photos (Good Identification info) from the Virginia Tech's Dendrology Deptarments' Tree Fact Sheets.

References for Tamarix laxa (a possible synonym).

[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.

References for tamarix pentandra (a possible synonym).

[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures

References for the family Tamaricaceae.

To be included in the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[75] Rosewarne experimental horticultural station. Shelter Trees and Hedges. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 1984
A small booklet packed with information on trees and shrubs for hedging and shelterbelts in exposed maritime areas.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[182] Thomas. G. S. Ornamental Shrubs, Climbers and Bamboos. Murray 1992 ISBN 0-7195-5043-2
Contains a wide range of plants with a brief description, mainly of their ornamental value but also usually of cultivation details and varieties.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[188] Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990 ISBN 0-86318-386-7
Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[227] Vines. R.A. Trees of North Texas University of Texas Press. 1982 ISBN 0292780206
A readable guide to the area, it contains descriptions of the plants and their habitats with quite a bit of information on plant uses.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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