Saltcedar

Tamarix spp. · Aquatic plants

Whole plant · Photo: Jo Roberts / CC BY

InvasiveShoreline

Also called Tamarix ramosissima, Tamarisk, Tamarix chinensis

State noxious weed listing

Idaho: Containment
Oregon: B list (T)
Wyoming: State designated noxious weed

How to identify Saltcedar

Shrub or small tree 5 to 20 feet with reddish brown bark
Tiny scalelike leaves on feathery, cedarlike branches
Plumes of small pink to white flowers
Salt crust often on the soil underneath

Similar plants

Russian olive has silvery, lance shaped leaves and thorns; junipers have similar scale leaves but are evergreen conifers with berrylike cones.

Growth profile

Growing season	Leafs out in late spring, flowers May to August and drops its leaves in fall.
Starts growing	Late spring
Light	Full sun
Depth	Moist to dry banks above high water; tolerates flooding
How it spreads	Tiny wind and water borne seeds; resprouts from roots and buried stems
Habitat	Reservoir and lake shores, river and canal banks, alkaline flats and drawdown zones, mostly in drier, low elevation areas.

Why it matters in a lake

Forms dense thickets that crowd out native willows and cottonwoods, and its fallen leaves add salt to the soil underneath. Claims that it uses far more water than native shoreline plants are not well supported, so removing it does not always increase water supply. Cut stems resprout, so cut stumps need to be treated right away.