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Tamarix hispida Willd.

Modern name

Tamarix hispida Willd.

Synonyms

T. kaschgarica Lemoine

A deciduous shrub, up to 3 or 4 ft high, distinct from all other cultivated tamarisks in the downiness of its young branches and leaves. It has a rather erect, compact habit, and the leaves are very glaucous, the largest less than 18 in. long, sharply pointed, but comparatively broad at the base, the smallest only one-third or one-fourth the size. Flowers bright pink, opening in late August and September, and borne in erect racemes 2 or 3 in. long terminating the branchlets.

This handsome tamarisk, easily distinguished from the others here mentioned by its hairy twigs and leaves, was introduced to cultivation by the Russian traveller Roborowsky, who collected seeds near Kashgar in W. Asia and sent them to Messrs Lemoine of Nancy. It was put on the market in 1893. It has also been found in the deserts east of the Caspian Sea. Whether it is not quite hardy, or whether (as is more likely) it does not get enough sun in England to ripen its wood properly, this species has not proved long-lived at Kew. Its glaucous white colour, its handsome flowers, and the fact that it blooms during the whole of September, make it a charming acquisition wherever it thrives, but it is evidently better suited for a continental climate than for ours.


Genus

Tamarix

Other species in the genus