458 ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM. 



TA'MARIX. Stamens 4 5. Hairs on the seeds simple. 

 MYRICA X RIA. Stamens 10. Hairs on the seeds feathery. 



GENUS I. 



1 

 j 



TA'MARIX Desv. THE TAMARISK. Lin. Syst. Pentandria Trigynia. 



Identification. Desv. Ann. Sc. Nat., 4. p. 348. ; Dec. Prod., 3. p. 95. j Don's Mill., 2. p. 725. 



Synonymes. The species of Tamarix of authors that have 4 stamens and 5 stamens ; T amaris, Fr. ; 

 Tamarisken, Ger. ; Tamarice, Ital. 



Derivation. So called, according to some, from the plants growing on the banks of the river Tama- 

 ras, now Tambra, on the borders of the Pyrenees ; or, according to others, from the Hebrew 

 word tamaris, cleansing, on account of their branches being used for brooms. 



Gen. Char. Calyx 4 5-parted. Petals 4 .5. Stamens 4 5, alternating with 

 the petals, almost free. Ovarium tapering to the apex. Stigmas 3, long, 

 divaricate, glandular, and oblique at the apex. Seeds erect, inserted nearly 

 at the base of the valves ; tufted ; tuft composed of numerous simple hairs 

 arising from the apex. (Don's Mill.') 



Leaves simple, alternate, exstipulate, deciduous or sub -evergreen ; linear, 

 stem-clasping, very small ; adult ones diaphanous at the apex. Flowers 

 in spikes, and usually disposed in panicles, small, red, seldom white. 



Tall shrubs, natives of Europe, the North of Africa, and the West of Asia ; 

 sub-evergreen in British gardens ; and highly valuable, as standing the sea 

 breeze in situations where few other ligneous plants, and no other flowering 

 shrubs, will grow. The whole plant is very bitter, and the young shoots were 

 formerly employed as a tonic, and as a substitute for hops in brewing beer. 



mm 1. T. GAELIC A L. The French Tamarisk. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 386. ; Mill. Ic. ; Dec. Prod., 3. p. 96. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 726. 



Synonymes. T. narbonensis Lou. Ic. 2. t. 218. ; Z'amartscus gallicus All. ; Tamariscus perrtandrus 



Lam. Ft. Fr., not of Pall. ; Mirice, Ital. 

 Engravings. N. Du Ham., vol. vii. t. 59. ; and our Jig. 819. 



Spec, Char., $c. Glabrous, glaucous. Leaves minute, clasping the 

 stem or branch, adpressed, acute. Spikes of flowers lateral, 

 somewhat panicled, slender, 5 times longer than broad. (Dec. 

 Prod.) A sub-evergreen shrub, frequent in sandy places in 

 the middle and South of Europe, and in the South of England. 

 Height 5 ft to 10ft., sometimes twice that height. Flowers 

 pinkish ; May to October. 



Varieties. In the Linntza, 2. p. 267., 6 varieties are described, for * 

 which we refer to our first edition, as the plants are not in cul- 

 tivation in Britain, and indeed appear to us not worth keeping distinct. 

 T. gallica prefers a deep, free, sandy soil ; and will only attain a large size 

 when it is in such a soil, and supplied with moisture from the proximity of some 

 river, or other source of water. It is valuable as thriving on the sea shore, where 

 few other shrubs will grow ; as being sub-evergreen ; and as flowering' late in 

 the season, and for several months together. It is readily propagated by cut- 

 tings, planted in autumn, in a sandy soil, with a northern exposure. In 

 favourable situations in France and the South of Europe, it grows to the 

 height of 15 or 20 feet ; and there are instances, both in Britain and on the 

 Continent, of its growing as high as 30 ft., and this, we suppose, has given rise 

 to the alleged variety, '/'. g. arhorea. In the South of Russia, and in Tartary, 

 the species assumes a great variety of forms according to the soil and situa- 

 tion ; the tops of the dwarf plants are there eaten by sheep, and the stems of 

 the larger ones used as handles for whips. 



