Tamarix

Voucher:   Tamarix aphylla (L.)H.Karst JAB115

Family:  Tamaricaceae  Common name(s):  Athel pine, athel tamarix , athel tree

Habit:  Tree to 10 m tall.  Distribution:  Introduced (Africa/Europe/India).  Commonly planted in arid and semi-arid regions, rarely becoming naturalised.

General features: Density 900 kg/m3 .   Heartwood absent or visually indiscernible from sapwood.   Longitudinal surface characterised by ray fleck visible to the naked eye; ray fleck is particularly evident if wood is roughly sawn to expose the radial surface.  Rays distinctly visible on cross-section with naked eye.

Microscopic features:

Vessels  Tangential vessel diameter: range 11-101 µm; mean 51 µm; SD 22 µm; average maximum 69-85 µm; n =  122 vessels.  Vessels per square millimetre: range 47-73 vessels per mm2 ; n = 3 sampled areas.  Vessels arranged in radial multiples usually of 2-3 vessels.  Perforation plates simple.

Axial parenchyma   Axial parenchyma paratracheal and vasicentric.

Rays  Rays 5-15 cells wide with uniseriate rays absent (n = 30 rays).  Rays of uniform width and not wider than vessels.  Rays 3-4 per tangential mm (n =    7 sampled areas).  Ray height: range 433-2663 µm; mean 1157 µm; SD 464 µm; n =    4 rays. Rays heterocellular or homocellular?   Abundant prismatic crystals in ray cells.

Helical thickenings  Uncertain.

Physical and chemical tests:  Chrome azurol-s test negative.  

Notes:  Heartwood-dependent characters are not assessed for wood where heartwood is absent or visually indiscernible from sapwood until such time it can be reliably determined that heartwood is present.