Wood anatomical characters of the Egyptian Tamarix L. species and its taxonomic significance

Abstract

Waly N. M. 1999. Wood anatomical characters of the Egyptian Tamarix L. species and its taxonomic significance. Taeckholmia 19 (2): 115-125. The secondary xylem elem ents show apparent constancy in their characters among the indiginous species of Tamarix. These characters were studied to evaluate their taxonomic importance. The characters of vessels (width in cross section and number/mm 2) were found important at the sectional level, while characters of rays and fiber thikness could be important for the distinction of certain species. Wood anatomical characters were found useful for the identification of Tamarix species when reliable morphological characters such as flowers and fruits are not available. In this respect, such characters would be useful for the identification of archaeological worked, non-worked wood material and charcoal.