Pollen Morphology of the Genus Tamarix in Israel

Abstract

The genus Tamarix (tamarisk, salt cedar; family Tamaricaceae) includes some 60 taxa worldwide. The genus is native to the drier areas of Eurasia and Africa, Western Europe, and the south and east United States (Schmidt, Relationship of salinity and depth to the water table on Tamarix spp. (salt cedar) growth and water use. Thesis submitted toward the M.Sc. Texas A&M University, p 90, 2003). The genus is composed of evergreen or deciduous shrubs or trees, usually on saline soils and tolerant to salts and alkaline conditions. The pink or white flowers grow in dense masses on 5–10-cm-long spikes or panicles flowering during spring, summer, and autumn. Tamarix can spread both vegetatively and by seed that are plumose at tips and can be dispersed by wind and water (Waisel, Biology of halophytes. Academic Press, London, 1972)… More than 15 species of Tamarix are found in Israel (Baum, The genus Tamarix. The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Jerusalem, 1978). The taxonomy of this genus has long been subjected to general and regional revisions. There has always been vast disagreement between botanists as to the delimitation and the grouping of the species (Zohary, Flora Palaestina part II. The Israel Academy for Science and Humanities, Jerusalem, 1972). The aim of the present study was to revise the taxonomy of the genus Tamarix, based primarily on pollen characters.