BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Tamarix aphylla | Athel Tamarisk 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Athel tamarisk is a introduced, fast-growing, evergreen tree.  It has a
rounded or irregular, spreading crown of many heavy, stout branches and
long, drooping twigs [2,16,31].  It attains a height of 33 to 60 feet
(10-18 m) and may attain a diameter of 2.5 feet (0.8 m).  The leaves are
tiny scales 0.06 inch (1.5 mm) long.  The twigs are wiry, very slender,
and jointed.  The bark becomes thick and deeply furrowed into long
narrow ridges on the trunk and smooth on the branches [2,16,19,31].
Athel tamarisk has a deep taproot [33].




RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte (Mesophanerophyte)


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Athel tamarisk flowers and produces many seeds, but most of the seeds
are sterile [9,34].  Its main method of propagation is vegetative.  It
sprouts from the root crown or forms adventitous roots from submerged,
broken or buried stems [9,18].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Where established outside of cultivation, Athel tamarisk commonly
occurs on salt flats, springs, and other saline habitats especially
along streams and rivers [22].  Athel tamarisk has been found along the
saline portions of the lower Colorado and Gila rivers and in the Salton
Sea Basin [27].  It also grows along irrigation ditches in bottomlands
[2].

Athel tamarisk is a facultative phreatophyte [33].  It is drought
resistant and is tolerant of alkaline and saline soils [16].  The
minimum annual rainfall required for reasonable growth is less than 16
inches (400 mm) [26].  The elevational range for Athel tamarisk in
California is from below sea level to 5,000 feet (1,524 m) [33]; in
Texas it occurs from 1,850 to 2,000 feet (564-610 m) [22].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Information on the successional status of Athel tamarisk is lacking.
It sprouts from on-site surviving root crowns in initial communities
[9,26].  Although it does not colonize sites by seed, it can colonize
disturbed areas by broken limbs carried by water [9,34].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Athel tamarisk generally flowers from March through August [16,25,29].
The fruit matures in late summer [16].

Related categories for Species: Tamarix aphylla | Athel Tamarisk