Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - tamarisk

 noun  Etymology: Middle English tamarisc, from Late Latin tamariscus, from Latin tamaric-, tamarix  Date: 14th century any of a genus (Tamarix of the family Tamaricaceae, the ~ family) of chiefly Old World desert shrubs and trees having tiny narrow leaves and masses of minute flowers with five stamens and a one-celled ovary — called also salt cedar