Tamarisk

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: tam=a=risk

CIDE DICTIONARY

Tamarisk, n. [L. tamariscus, also tamarix, tamarice, Skr. tamāla, tamālaka, a tree with a very dark bark; cf. tamas darkness: cf. F. tamarisc, tamarix, tamaris.].

 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.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Tamarisk, n. any shrub of the genus Tamarix, usu. with long slender branches and small pink or white flowers, that thrives by the sea.

Etymology

ME f. LL tamariscus, L tamarix