tamarisk

tamarisk
    n 1: 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
    

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]
    

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.).