In Egypt there are several native species of tamarisk which superficially appear to be similar. They form shrubs or small trees with numerous twigs, giving the whole plant a feathery appearance. On closer inspection it will be noticed that the twigs are covered with small green scales which are reduced leaves often covered by secreted salt. T aphylla, however, has no obvious scales.
Corky bark of an old tamarisk tree Tamarix aphylla.
The small pink or white flowers are held in short terminal and lateral racemes like little bottle brushes.
Tamarisks are plants characteristic of salty places, riversides or dried-up stream beds (wadis) where water flows from time to time after rain. They are planted in such situations, where few other trees grow, in order to form hedges or wind-breaks; they are easily propagated from short, woody cuttings. Deep roots develop as well as side roots, which effectively hold sand; T. aphylla stores a large amount of water in its roots. The shrubby species hardly develop a trunk, while the trunk of the
A shoot of kermes oak Quercus aegilops, which provided the timber for some of the tenons in Tutankhamun’s burial shrine.
Tree tamarisk (T. aphylla) is the most likely to have been used for timber in Ancient Egypt: it is dense and useful for general construction, turnery and as fuel. A sweet substance, said to be the manna collected by the Israelites (Exodus 16), is secreted by insects sucking juice from the twigs of some species.
World History
