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Strombocarpa tamarugo
Tamarugo is a thorny, evergreen desert tree from the Atacama region of northern Chile, grown mainly for fodder, charcoal and shade on saline, dry soils. Its key need is a sunny, hot site with deep water access and very little summer rain.
Strombocarpa tamarugo, commonly known as the tamarugo, is a thorny evergreen [1] species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, subfamilia Mimosoideae. It is only found in northern Chile, particularly in the Pampa del Tamarugal, some 70 km (43 mi) east of the city of Iquique. This bushy tree apparently grows without the benefit of rainfall, and it is thought to obtain some water from dew. Studies indicate it is a phreatophyte; having deep roots that tap into ground water supplies. It also participates in hydraulic redistribution moving water from deeper levels to the upper and also reversing the process in times of severe drought.
Scattered stands of the trees have been cut down for firewood. The trees grow on saline soils that do not allow for other trees. The species is a valuable source of charcoal and lumber and the leaves and fruits are also food for goats.
Algarrobo Blanco · Mesquite · Smooth Mesquite · Jand · Syrian mesquite · Neltuma glandulosa · Prosopis koelziana · Neltuma kuntzei · Neltuma nigra · Neltuma pallida · Strombocarpa pubescens · Strombocarpa strombulifera
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Strombocarpa tamarugo by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
