Saltcedar, five-stamen tamarisk Saltcedar, five-stamen tamarisk

Tamarix juniperina Bunge

Shrubs or trees, to 8 m. Leaves: blade lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 1.5–3 mm. Inflorescences 2–6 cm × 5–7 mm; bract reaching or exceeding pedicel, not exceeding calyx tip. Flowers 5-merous; sepals 0.5–1.5 mm, margins entire; petals elliptic to ovate, 1.5–2 mm; antisepalous stamens 5, filaments alternate with nectar disc lobes, some or all originating from below disc. 2n = 24.

Flowering early spring–fall. Riverways, lakeshores, arroyos; 0–2500 m; introduced; Ariz., Calif., Colo., Idaho, Mont., Nev., N.Mex., Okla., Tex., Utah, Wyo.; e Asia; introduced also in South America (Argentina).

Tamarix chinensis, morphologically very similar to T. ramosissima, hybridizes with T. ramosissima (commonly) and T. aphylla (rarely).