TAMARISK 1 8.^ 



noiirishiiiij on sandy stretches, wliere it aftords some shelter from the 

 hleak east wind. It has served, moreover, with the native Sea Hiick- 

 thorn. a[iart from Marram Grass and Sand Sedjfc, to liiiid toj^ether 

 the otherwise shifting sands of the east coast. 



So called from its nali\ e place in Spain, Tamaris, the Tamarisk is 

 an evergreen shrub which is planted on accoimt of its pretlilection for 

 the sea. It is woody, erect, and possesses .slender, feathery branches, 

 with threadlike or awl-shaped leaves below, trianmilar, with earlike 

 lobes above, overlappini.:^, and small. 



The tlowers ,ire pink, in spikes, which are lateral, close, alternate, 

 slender, and with broad arrow-shaped bracts or leaflike organs below. 

 The sepals and petals are h\ e in number, the lateral ones do not fall, 

 and all are united at the base, with apiculate anthers. The capsule, 

 which is olobular, 3-sided, is narrower at the top, and contains nume- 

 rous feathered seeds, the hairs being- lateral and terminal. 



The Tamarisk is sometimes 12 ft. in height. The (lowers bloom 

 from May to October. It is a perennial shrub. 



The tlowers, though small, are rather conspicutius as a whole. 

 This is one of those maritime plants which, though they tlower late, 

 are not attractive to insects, and have thus to rely on self-pollination 

 very largely. The anthers are capable of moving when they are about 

 to discharge pollen. There are several carpels and many stamens. 



The Tamarisk is dispersed by the agency of the wind, and the seed 

 is provided with a tuft of hairs which render it fit for wind dispersal. 



Requiring a saline soil, it is a salt-lover, and is also a .sand-loving 

 plant, living on a sand soil. 



Xo fungi or insects infest the Tamarisk, so far as is known. 



Taiiiarix, Pliny, is the Latin name of the plant, and oa/lica refers 

 to its French derivation (in our case). 



The Tamarisk is called Cypress, Heath, Ling, and Tamarisk. 

 Turner, in his Natms 0/ Hcrbcs, says it was once called Heath: "the 

 Schole maisters in Englande have a long time called niyrica (Tamarix) 

 heath, or lyng, but so longe have been deceyved altogether ". 



In Sicily they believed it was the tree upon which Judas hanged 

 himself. It is cultivated as a hedge plant, and much used for this 

 purpose along the coast, where nothing else will grow. 



EssEXTi.\L SrEciFic Ch.\r.\cti:ks: — 



60. Tamarix gallica, L. — Shrubby, branches slender, leafy, flexible, 

 leaves scale-like, glabrous, appressed, minute, flowers pink or rose in 

 a panicle, capsule rounded, truncate. 



