Salt cedar, also known as Tamarisk, is not a native species to North America and was introduced in the East during the early 1800's. It is a native of Africa and the Mediterranean areas and is considered a large bush or a small tree reaching about 20 feet tall. It was introduced to the Southwestern US in the late 1800's and used as an ornamental and shade tree. It quickly spread and has taken over in many areas along the Colorado River. Salt Cedar gets its name from the fact that it does contain rather large concentrations of salt. The salt actually "poisons" the ground around the tree and doesn't allow for other species of trees to live near it.

It survives well in both drought and floods. It has a deep tap root that can go down to 100 feet and spread out to 150 feet. Salt Cedar is also an enormous water consumer. A single large plant can absorb 200 gallons of water a day. Salt Cedar’s high water consumption further stresses native vegetation by lowering ground water levels and can also dry up springs and marshy areas. Paradoxically, saltcedar infestations can also lead to flooding, as its extensive root system can choke stream beds.

"Although salt cedar is fed on by more than 250 species of invertebrates in the Old World, as well as camels and livestock, few North American organisms use it as a food source. The only two common insects that feed on tamarisk are host-specific exotic species from the Old World: an eighth-inch green, brown-tipped cicadellid leaf-hopper, Opsius stactogalus; and a sixteenth-inch, white diaspidid scale, Chinonaspis etrusca. The leaf-hopper is readily visible on the plants in the summer months. It feeds on sap, “hoping” for amino acids but getting mostly sugar water, which it excretes in tiny droplets. Leaf-hopper densities are often so great that the ground (and often the shade-craving river recreationists) beneath tamarisk, experience a gentle rain of leaf-hopper exudate.

This genus of leaf-hopper has a biblical history. When the Israelites ran out of food on their desert trek, Moses prayed for food and the Lord sent them manna. Manna is the sugary coating of the ground exuded by Opsius leafhoppers feeding in tamarisk. (An aside to the adventurous, it tastes reasonably good.)" (SALTCEDAR Scourge of the West:The Natural History of Tamarisk in the Grand Canyon. Saltcedar/tamariskAbstracts - Woody Plant Wetland Workshop Saltcedar, Russian OliveSeptember 3 & 4, 1997Holiday Inn, Grand Junction, Colorado )

Salt Cedar wood cracks and splits when drying and is not considered a useful wood. However these characteristics make it attractive for making walking sticks that require a lot of character. Recently I had a request to make a curved split walking stick that was similar to the one used by Harry Lauder. The Salt Cedar root provided the perfect wood for the walking stick. The pictures below show its characteristics. It was easy to woodburn a silhouette type of image into it and it did finish well with 3 applications of tung oil and a special wax application.

If anyone wants Salt Cedar, please contact me:

newsletter@southwestwoodcrafts.com

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A Salt Cedar stick.	CLose-up of a Salt Cedar Stick	Close-up of a Salt Cedar walking stick, with wood burned initials