Tamarix aphylla (L.) H.Karst.
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Description
Tamarix aphylla is a large evergreen or semi-evergreen tree, commonly reaching 10–18 m in height, occasionally taller under favourable conditions. It develops a broad spreading crown with numerous slender branches. The trunk is greyish-brown, becoming deeply fissured with age. Unlike most trees, the leaves are highly reduced and scale-like, representing an adaptation to dry environments. Leaves are: Very small. Alternate. Sessile. Overlapping along young branches. Covered with salt-secreting glands. The foliage gives the tree a fine, feathery appearance. The plant is often mistaken for a conifer because of its needle-like branchlets. Flowers are small, bisexual, and pinkish-white, arranged in dense elongated spike-like racemes at the ends of branches. Each flower has: Five small sepals. Five petals. Five stamens. Superior tricarpellary ovary. The fruit is a small three-valved capsule, containing numerous tiny seeds with a tuft of hairs (coma), aiding wind dispersal.
Diagnostic Characters
Distribution
Native range: Native to North Africa, Middle East, Arabian Peninsula, Southwest Asia, Distribution in Pakistan. Commonly found in Indus plains, Desert regions, Saline soils, River banks, Arid landscapes. Important regions include Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Cholistan Desert.
Ethnobotany & Uses
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