Tamarix Species, Athel Pine, Athel Tamarisk

The species of this genus are a challenge to distinguish even for botanists. Most of the plants naturalized in North America are hybrids ...Read Morein any case.

According to BONAP, this species has naturalized in 5 states. Five states have declared it a noxious weed.

Like other Tamarix species, it's an invasive pest species on the shores of rivers, lakes, and irrigation canals in arid regions of the US. There it forms impenetrable thickets, replaces native flora, lowers water tables, and increases the salt content of the soil.

This species was long thought to be sterile and therefore at most mildly invasive, but it is reproducing from seed in some US localities. It has been doing so at Lake Mead for 30 years, and is hybridizing with the deciduous saltcedars. http://www.desertmuseum.org/invaders/invaders_tamarisk.php

Even botanists have a hard time distinguishing the species of this genus. And most tamarisks naturalized in the US are hybrids.

Flowers of the species are whitish.

This is a fairly common tree in the Antelope Valley/ high deserts of southern California, where it lives primarily where there is suffici...Read Moreent ground water (maybe pretty deep, but present). It is otherwise and extremely drought tolerant plant living on little to no supplemental water year round, even looking good in times of drought. From a distance this plant looks ferny and soft, with leaves reduced to fine, needle-like foliage. It makes the plants seem difficult to focus on since there are few details to make out unless one gets up close. The trees have an ornamental turquoise coloration, often in great contrast to the commonly reddish-orange soils.

Athel Pine, Athel Tamarisk Tamarix aphylla is Naturalized in Texas and other States and is considered an invasive and noxious plant in Texas.