Flora of Israel | Tamarix tetragyna

Tamarix tetragyna, Four-stamen tamarisk, Saltcedar,
Hebrew: אשל מרובע, Arabic: أثل رباعي الأخبية


Scientific name:		Tamarix tetragyna Ehrenb.
Common name:		Four-stamen tamarisk, Saltcedar
Hebrew name:		אשל מרובע
Arabic name:		Ethel Quartet Alokhbayh, أثل رباعي الأخبية
Family:		Tamaricaceae, Tamarix family, אשליים

_{Location: Achu Binyamina}


Life form:		Tree, 1-3 m high
Stems:		Reddish brown bark; glabrous
Leaves:		Alternate, scale
Inflorescence:		vernal, racemes 3-9 cm. long, 5-8 mm broad
Flowers:		Hermaphrodite; mostly tetramerous, rarely pentamerous; white
Fruits / pods:		Capsule pyramical shaped, 6 mm long
Flowering Period:		January, February, March, April, December
Habitat:		Saline Sandy Soils, Swamps, Edges of Salt Marshes
Distribution:		Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts Salt resistance : grows in salty and non-salty habitats
Chorotype:		Med – Saharo-Arabian
Summer shedding:		Perennating

_{Location: Achu Binyamina}
Derivation of the botanical name:

Tamarix, the Latin name for this plant derived from the Tamaris River in Spain.

tetragyna, with 4 styles or carpels.
The Hebrew name:אשל, eshel, ʾḗšel, Akkadian: ašlu; Ugaritic: Eshel; Aramaic אַתְלָא‎, (atla); Arabic أَثْل‎ (ʾaṯl).

The standard author abbreviation Ehrenb. is used to indicate Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg (1795 – 1876), a German naturalist, zoologist, comparative anatomist, geologist, and microscopist.

According to Harold Moldenke (1909-1996), an American botanist/taxonomist (Plants of the Bible p.227): Tamarix tetragyna: also called Tamarix deserti Boiss. and T. noeana Boiss.