Tamarix pentandra
Common names: SALTCEDAR, TAMARISK Arizona, California, and Texas deserts: (Tamarix pentandra). Pink to white. March-August. Tamarix family. Size: Shrubs to trees up to 15-20 feet high.
Purists could object to inclusion of the Saltcedar in this booklet because it is not native. However, due to a number of importations (eight species being introduced by the Department of Agriculture between 1899 and 1915) and to its ability to spread rapidly under suitable conditions, Saltcedar is now widespread throughout the Southwest.
It grows as a graceful shrub or small tree with drooping branches covered with small, scale-like leaves and is abundant in moist locations below 5,000 feet. It prefers a hot climate, low humidity, and saline soils. In river bottoms, it often forms dense thickets which require immense quantities of water, hence rob the few desert streams of a high percentage of their moisture.
Honeybees obtain nectar from the blossoms, which are particularly noticeable in the spring and early summer, as they completely cover the branches which appear as light pink, drooping plumes. The thickets are valuable as wind breaks and in erosion control, and once established, are very difficult to control and because of the deep shade cast by their dense growth and the heavy feeding of the shallow roots, they prevent cropping.
The name Tamarisk is often confused with the name of the Larch or Tamarack tree. There is little similarity except in the name.
The larger Tamarix aphylla is similar in appearance but much larger and suitable for cultivation as a shade and decorative tree. It is subject to winterkill, but does not have the bad habit of spreading, characteristic of T. pentandra.
PINK
Phlox tenuifolia
Phlox mesoleuca
Common name: DESERT-PHLOX Arizona desert: (Phlox tenuifolia). White-lavender. Spring. California desert: (Phlox stansburyi). Pinkish-red. May-July. Texas desert: (Phlox mesoleuca). Pink-white. June-August. Phlox family. Size: Low-growing perennials, in clumps; or shrubby plants in tufts up to 3 feet tall.
Representatives of the Phlox genus are found from the hot desert lowlands to the mountain tops well above the timberline. Certain species are limited in their range to the desert areas of the Southwest, and it is in these that we are interested here. The plants sometimes present a mass of heavy bloom twice yearly: heaviest in the spring, and again following the summer rains. Several of the native species have been brought under cultivation, particularly P. tenuifolia, in desert gardens, as it grows naturally in a brushy habitat similar to that formed by the shrubs planted around a house. Other forms grow as low, creeping mats forming fragrant, colorful floral carpets.
LAVENDER