Common Name: saltcedar Duration: Perennial Nativity: Non-Native Lifeform: Tree General: Invasive, exotic shrubs and trees 1-7 m tall with many slender branches. Leaves: Minute, alternate, scale like leaves. Flowers: Pale pink to white, small, perfect and regular, arranged in spike-like racemes. Distinct petals occur in fours or fives. Fruits: Capsule with many, many, many, many seeds that have feathery hairs. Ecology: Found just about anywhere, this thing spreads like, well, a weed along any disturbed riparian area below 5,000 ft (1524 m); flowers January-October. Notes: Tamarisk taxonomy is in a perpetual state of confusion because the members of the genus have few constant differentiating features. Hybridization is a real potential, which may account for why there were thought to be eight introduced species that now really cannot be told apart. Ethnobotany: You can burn it, but it is stinky. Etymology: Tamarix comes from the Latin name derived from the Tamaris River in Spain, ramosissima means very branched. Synonyms: None Editor: SBuckley, 2010