TAMARISCE^E TAMARISK FAMILY 



TAMARISK 



Tdmarix. 



So called, according to some, from the plants growing on 

 the banks of the river Tamaras, now Tambra, on the bor- 

 ders of the Pyrenees ; or according to others, from the 

 Hebrew word tamaris, cleansing, on account of their 

 branches being used for brooms. 



The Tamarisks are a group of tall shrubs inhabit- 

 ing a broad continental belt extending from Central 

 Europe to the China Sea. In favoring climates they 

 are subevergreen, with us they are frankly deciduous. 

 We have no native shrub that in any way resembles 

 them. The stems are erect but so slender that the 

 whole plant sways with the wind. The branchlets and 

 spray are so delicate and at the same time so abun- 

 dant that the effect of the plant is that of a green feath- 

 ery mass. Moreover, this effect is produced by the 

 spray alone, for although leaves are present in great 

 numbers, they are minute green scales, closely imbri- 

 cated and scarcely separable from the bark. The 

 flowers are small, usually pink, borne in racemes or in 

 terminal panicles which give a charming effect among 

 the soft foliage. The fruit is a small capsule. 



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