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Saltcedar
Tamarix ramosissima Ledeb.
[Tamaricaceae]
Taxonomy status: There are
other species of Tamarix that are included under
the name saltcedar such as: T. chinensis Lour and
T. parviflora DC.
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Saltcedar
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Biology
Deciduous or evergreen shrubs or small
trees, usually 5 to 20 feet tall. Bark on saplings and
stems is reddish-brown. Leaves are small and scale-like,
on highly branched slender stems. Flowers are pink to
white, 5 petalled. Under good conditions, it can grow
9-12 feet in a single season. It tends to occupy desert
riparian sites.
History
Introduced from Eurasia in the 1800's
as an ornamental, Tamarix ramosissima is now
wide spread in the United States. Saltcedar had spread
extensively in the 1940's along several rivers in the
Southwestern states.
Status
Damage by saltcedar includes the displacement
of valuable cottonwood/willow, seepwillow/baccharis,
and other native plant communities often by dense monotypic
thickets of saltcedar.
Agents
A number of biological control agents have
been considered for use for this weed. The most promising
ones are:
Literature
DeLoach, C. Jack. 1996. Saltcedar Biological Control:
Methodology, Exploration, Laboratory Trials, Proposals
for Field Releases, and Expected Enviromental Effects.
Saltcedar Management and Riparian Restoration Workshop,
Las Vegas, Nevada, September 17-18.
Westbrook, R. 1998. Invasive plants, changing the
landscape of America: Fact book. Federal Interagency
Committee for the Management of Noxious and Exotic Weeds
(FICMNEW), Washington, D. C. 109 pp.
Whitson, T. D., L. C. Burrill, S. A. Dewey, D. W.
Cudney, B. E. Nelson, R. D Lee and R. Parker. 1991.
Weeds of the West. The Western Society of Weed Science.
630 pp.
Links
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