Tamarisks (salt cedars, Tamaricaceae family) are dry-climate trees that grow across parts of Eurasia and Africa, and as invasive species in North America. The largest species, Tamarix aphylla, can grow several metres high. Commonly known as the Athel tree, it is possibly the same species as the Tame risk (Ëshel in Hebrew) planted by Abraham in Genesis 21:33.

One of the most striking features of tamarisks is their ability to grow on brackish water containing up to 1.5% salt, almost half the salinity of seawater. They do this by a process called phytoexcretion where sodium ions are actively pumped out across cell membranes to be excreted from he leaves at salt glands where visible salt crystals form (Duan et al, 2022.

Besides sodium, tamerisks can phytosecrete other metals including toxic metals like lead and cadmium (Manousaki & Kalogerakis, 2011). This has potential application in a process called phytoremediation in which tolerant plants are planted in polluted soil to soak up contaminants, and the biomass produced is then taken away for safe disposal.

Tamarisks accumulate a lot of photosynthetically-produced sugar that acts as osmoticum to help them suck water from obdurate, salty soil. Their sweet sap is collected by insects and oozes from the incisions they make, resulting in a harvestable sweet material that can be used for confectionary. This may be the basis of the biblical story of the Manna that fed the Children of Israel during 40 years of wandering in the Sinai desert.

Tamarisks grow under stress conditions and survive with the help of antioxidants and other phytochemicals. Many of these molecules are bioactive, underlying the use of Tamarisk in traditional medicine. In fact, Tamarisk has many well substantiated pharmacological properties, including antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and wound-healing activities (Alshehri et al, 2021).

But is using tamarisk on the skin rubbing salt into wounds? No, because tamarisk knows how to keep just the good stuff.

Further reading

•Duan Q et al (2022). Recent Progress on the Salt Tolerance Mechanisms and Application of Tamarisk. International journal of molecular sciences, 23(6),3325. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23063325

• Manousaki E, Kalogerakis N (2011). Halophytes--an emerging trend in phytoremediation. International journal of phytoremediation, 13(10),959–969. https://doi.org/10.1080/15226514.2010.532241

• Alshehri SA et al (2021). Pharmacological Efficacy of Tamarix aphylla: A Comprehensive Review. Plants (Basel, Switzerland), 11(1),118. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11010118

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