Tamarix senegalensis DC.
T. gallica L. subsp. nilotica (Ehrenb.) Maire var. monodiana Maire.
Eng.: Tamarisk. Spa.: Taray, taraje, atarfe. Fre.: Tamaris. Ara.: Tarfa, tarfaya, abal, atl hamra, fersig, afersi, (Egypt): mour, (Hassanía): tarve.
Small tree or shrub, evergreen, hermaphrodite, up to 8(12) m in height, irregular in shape, with sparse foliage. Trunk ± erect, with brown or reddish-brown fissured bark, at least in older specimens. Branchlets of the current year glabrous or papillose. Leaves (1.75-2.5 mm) alternate, sessile, squamiform, triangular-lanceolate, with an acute tip, semiclasping, applied, without stipules. Leaf blade with small salt secreting glands, ± visible depending on the salinity of the habitat. Racemes 20-70 × 3-4 mm, densely covered with flowers. Flowers pentamerous, with 5 petals (1.5-2 mm) ovate to triangular-ovate. Staminal disk hololophic, although sometimes it is hard to notice because its lobes are hardly developped or not developped at all. Fruit an ovoid capsule.
Flowering:
March to April and July to October.
Fruiting:
April to October.
Habitat:
Salt marshes, coastal sand dunes, temporary water courses, riverbanks, sand banks.
Distribution:
Central-western Sahara and Cape Verde Islands. In the continent, from Morocco to the N up to Senegal to the S, reaching towards the E to the central Sahara.
Observations:
Although some authors include T. nilotica (Ehrenb.) Bunge y T. arabica Bunge within the variability of T. senegalensis (it is thus classified, for example, in The Plant List), recent genetic studies are not conclusive about this. For the moment, until more precise studies are conducted, we keep T. senegalensis separate from T. nilotica [= T. arabica, T. mannifera (Ehrenb.) Bunge].
Conservation status:
Common and widespread species. It is not considered threatened. In the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species it is listed as Least Concern (LC) at global level (BGCI, 2021).