Tamarisk

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Tamarisk \Tam"a*risk\, n. [L. tamariscus, also tamarix,
     tamarice, Skr. tam[=a]la, tam[=a]laka, a tree with a very
     dark bark; cf. tamas darkness: cf. F. tamarisc, tamarix,
     tamaris.] (Bot.)
     Any shrub or tree of the genus {Tamarix}, the species of
     which are European and Asiatic. They have minute scalelike


     leaves, and small flowers in spikes. An Arabian species
     ({Tamarix mannifera}) is the source of one kind of manna.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     {Tamarisk salt tree}, an East Indian tree ({Tamarix
        orientalis}) which produces an incrustation of salt.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  tamarisk
       n : any shrub or small tree of the genus Tamarix having small
           scalelike or needle-shaped leaves and feathery racemes of
           small white or pinkish flowers; of mostly coastal areas
           with saline soil

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Tamarisk
     Heb. 'eshel (Gen. 21:33; 1 Sam. 22:6; 31:13, in the R.V.; but in
     A.V., "grove," "tree"); Arab. asal. Seven species of this tree
     are found in Palestine. It is a "very graceful tree, with long
     feathery branches and tufts closely clad with the minutest of
     leaves, and surmounted in spring with spikes of beautiful pink
     blosoms, which seem to envelop the whole tree in one gauzy sheet
     of colour" (Tristram's Nat. Hist.).