Tamrix Tamarix ramosissima
Other Common Name(s):
Previously known as:
- Tamarix chinensis
- Tamarix gallica
- Tamarix pentandra
- Phonetic Spelling
- TAM-uh-riks ram-oh-SIS-ee-muh
- Description
-
Salt Cedar is a deciduous, thicket forming, flowering shrub or small tree, growing to 14 feet by 9 feet, and often found in coastal areas. The showy flowers last through spring and summer. It has scaly gray-green juniper-like foliage but is neither a conifer nor an evergreen. It produces true flowers which are pink and appear from June to August. Its branches are long, slender and arching and have an attractive reddish color. The common name salt cedar comes from not only the plant's ability to withstand saline conditions but to actually produce salt.
The Salt Cedar grows well in full sun in most dry to wet well-drained soils, including heavy clay and alkaline soils. It cannot grow in the shade. Prune as needed in late winter to early spring. It can be pruned hard, as far as several inches above the ground to manage growth and keep the form compact. Avoid excess fertilizer, this tree has a sparse root system.
This plant is an invasive species and should not be planted. It is listed as invasive in SC, and several central and western states. It has naturalized in floodplains, riverbanks, ditches, marshes, waste areas and roadsides in many areas of the West, Southwest and Great Plains.
There are plenty of native choices of trees and shrubs for planting along ponds and streams listed to the left.
Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: No known diseases or insect pests. Weedy
- See this plant in the following landscape:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
-
- 'Pink Cascade'
Open, multi-stemmed, 15 foot high shrub with arching branches and fine, feathery foliage.
- 'Pink Cascade'
- 'Pink Cascade'
- Tags:


















- Cultivars / Varieties:
-
- 'Pink Cascade'
Open, multi-stemmed, 15 foot high shrub with arching branches and fine, feathery foliage.
- 'Pink Cascade'
- 'Pink Cascade'
- Tags:
-
-
Attributes:
- Genus:
- Tamarix
- Species:
- ramosissima
- Family:
- Tamaricaceae
- Uses (Ethnobotany):
- Gardens, Rain Gardens
- Life Cycle:
- Woody
- Country Or Region Of Origin:
- Eastern Europe, Asia, Southern Russia to China
- Distribution:
- Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.
- Play Value:
- Wildlife Food Source
- Wind Break
- Particularly Resistant To (Insects/Diseases/Other Problems):
- deer damage
- Dimensions:
- Height: 10 ft. 0 in. - 15 ft. 0 in.
- Width: 8 ft. 0 in. - 13 ft. 0 in.
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-
Whole Plant Traits:
- Plant Type:
- Shrub
- Tree
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Deciduous
- Habit/Form:
- Multi-stemmed
- Spreading
- Growth Rate:
- Rapid
- Maintenance:
- High
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-
Cultural Conditions:
- Light:
- Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
- Soil Texture:
- Clay
- Loam (Silt)
- Sand
- Soil pH:
- Acid (<6.0)
- Alkaline (>8.0)
- Neutral (6.0-8.0)
- Soil Drainage:
- Good Drainage
- Occasionally Dry
- Available Space To Plant:
- 12-24 feet
- NC Region:
- Coastal
- Mountains
- Piedmont
- USDA Plant Hardiness Zone:
- 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b
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-
Fruit:
- Fruit Type:
- Capsule
- Fruit Description:
- Fruits are dry capsules that split open and disperse seeds.
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-
Flowers:
- Flower Color:
- Pink
- Flower Inflorescence:
- Raceme
- Flower Value To Gardener:
- Long Bloom Season
- Showy
- Flower Bloom Time:
- Summer
- Flower Petals:
- 4-5 petals/rays
- Flower Size:
- < 1 inch
- Flower Description:
- Pink, feathery racemes that bloom in spring and summer on new wood.
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-
Leaves:
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Deciduous
- Leaf Color:
- Gray/Silver
- Green
- Leaf Shape:
- Lanceolate
- Leaf Margin:
- Entire
- Hairs Present:
- No
- Leaf Description:
- Fine-textured, juniper-like foliage that is compound, alternate, scale-like and tightly overlapping along the stem. Lanceolate in shape with sharp to tapered tips
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-
Stem:
- Stem Color:
- Gold/Yellow
- Gray/Silver
- Orange
- Red/Burgundy
- Stem Is Aromatic:
- No
- Stem Form:
- Zig Zags
- Stem Description:
- Reddish, slender, arching branchlets are light red or orange-yellow and weeping when young. Older bark is grey.
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-
Landscape:
- Resistance To Challenges:
- Deer
- Drought
- Poor Soil
- Salt
- Problems:
- Weedy