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Tree & Shrub Gallery

Miscellaneous Conifer-like

        

Tamaricaceae - Tamarisk family
Salt-cedar Tamarix sp.
The distinction between species in this genus is in dispute.
This is not a conifer. Leaves are very small and scale-like, covering short branches giving a cedar-like appearance. Flowers are in soft pink spikes with multiple spikes along one branch.

Tamarix trees drink lots of water reducing moisture and extrude salt through their leaves. They reproduce quickly by seed and root. They can clog waterways and displace native species.
Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, April 2005

Hunting Similar Species

Athel Tamarisk Tamarix aphylla
Evergreen tree to 60 feet tall.
(Introduced, native of Eurasia and Africa, not invasive - Tom Green)

Salt-cedar (Five-stamen Tamarisk) Tamarix chinensis (Tamarix pentandra, Tamarix ramosissima)
Shrubby tree to about 25 feet tall.
(Introduced, native of Eurasia, invasive - Taylor, Jones, Coleman, Brown)

French Tamarisk Tamarix gallica
Shrubby tree to about 16 feet tall. Branchlets with scale leaves drop off in fall.
(Introduced, native of Sinai Peninsula, invasive - Coleman, Brown, Coke)

              

Ephedraceae - Ephedra family
Erect Ephedra Ephedra antisyphilitica
At first glance, this bush looks like a dwarfed conifer, but it is not a conifer. Plant has spreading limbs and reaches about 3 feet tall. New branches look like green, long, round leaves. They come out at old, woody, growth nodes. Leaves are tiny. Reddish Flower "buds" are 1/4" long, cone shaped that grow at young stem nodes. 5-8 tiny yellow flowers protrude from the sides of each cone.
Plant photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, August 2004
Flower photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, May 2005, February-March 2007
(Native of Texas - Taylor, etc.)