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Field guide
Saltcedar (Tamarix ramosissima)
Jerzy Opioła · CC BY-SA 3.0

also Tamarisk

Saltcedar

Tamarix ramosissima

Family:
Tamaricaceae
Elevation:
1,000 ft – 7,000 ft
Bloom:
Apr – Sep
Region:
Southwest

Non-native invasive. This plant spreads aggressively and displaces native flora — it's here so you can recognize and manage it, not plant it. See Common problems & fixes below for removal guidance.

A feathery, gray-green shrub or small tree with tiny scale-like leaves and showy pink to whitish flower plumes. A non-native invasive that forms dense thickets choking Southwest rivers, guzzling groundwater and salting the soil so native cottonwoods and willows can't compete.

Care · tuned to the Southwest

Water

A deep-rooted phreatophyte that taps the water table, letting it consume enormous amounts of water and drop river flows; its leaves exude salt that crusts the soil and gives it an edge in dry, saline riparian zones.

Sun & exposure

Full sun on open riparian corridors and disturbed washes.

Soil

Invades streambanks, floodplains, irrigation ditches, and lakeshores, tolerating and worsening saline, alkaline soils.

In the Southwest

Harmful because it lowers water tables, increases soil salinity, crowds out native cottonwood-willow galleries, and its dense resinous stands greatly increase wildfire intensity. Invasive — remove, never plant.

Common problems & fixes

  • Dense thickets lower water tables and dry up springs and stream reaches

    Fix — Cut mature trunks and immediately paint the stump with triclopyr or imazapyr (cut-stump method); mechanical removal alone fails because it resprouts.

  • Salt-crusting leaves and resinous litter build fuel and salinity, raising fire risk

    Fix — Hand-pull seedlings while roots are shallow, follow up for several seasons, and restore native cottonwood/willow to shade out reinvasion.

  • Prolific seed spreads rapidly downstream after floods

    Fix — Control upstream sources first and monitor floodplains after high water, treating new seedlings early.

Pets & toxicity

Not significantly toxic to pets; the salt-encrusted foliage offers little forage and the main hazard is impenetrable thicket growth rather than poisoning.

Easy to confuse with

  • Athel tamarisk (Tamarix aphylla) — a larger evergreen tree with jointed twigs
  • Desert willow (Chilopsis linearis) — native, with long narrow leaves and trumpet flowers, not scale leaves and plumes

Sources

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