(Mike Lyle) wrote in message . com...
Note two-group posting: I hope nobody will mind.

European readers will be familiar with tamarisks as robustly
salt-tolerant but innocent seaside trees or shrubs; US readers, I find
from sci.botany, may know the various species as unstoppable invaders
in certain conditions. At
http://internet.cybermesa.com/~bludevil/P6160002.JPG
the attractive name "salt cedar" is given as an alternative.

Does anybody know the pedigree of the new, presumably American, name?
What is the oldest printed use we have? It's not in OED1, where
*tamarisk" is cited from 1400.

Mike.

The more common spelling is one word, "saltcedar". It's unrelated to
true cedars, but it has scalelike leaves resembling those of the
cedars. The name refers to its ability to survive on brackish water,
excreting the salt from its stems and leaves. Nothing attractive about
the name; it is one of the most noxious weeds in the western U.S.,
where it was imported as an ornamental and escaped; considerable
resources are expended on its control.

--
Chris Green