tamarisk

noun

1. any Old World tropical plant of the genus Tamarix, especially T. gallica, an ornamental Mediterranean shrub or small tree having slender, feathery branches.
2. a shrub or small tree, Tamarix chinensis, of Eurasia, having scalelike leaves and clusters of pink flowers, naturalized in the southwestern U.S., where it has become a troublesome weed.

noun

1. any of various ornamental trees and shrubs of the genus Tamarix, of the Mediterranean region and S and SE Asia, having scalelike leaves, slender branches, and feathery clusters of pink or whitish flowers: family Tamaricaceae

n.southern European evergreen shrub, c.1400, from Late Latin tamariscus, variant of tamarix, of unknown origin, probably a borrowing from a non-Indo-European language, perhaps related to Hebrew tamar “palm tree, date palm” (see tamarind).