Tamarisk

Tamarisk is a middle eastern bush. In dry areas it is usually a bush with pencil thickness stalks and no usuable wood. It is mentioned in the Bible in stories about Abraham. We are calling this one of our Biblical woods for that reason. This wood for sale was cut in Colorado, USA. The bush was brought from the Middle East to North America in the early 1800’s to stop erosion around rivers. It does that well but it was later realized that it can get out of control when given a lot of water, such as on riverbanks. Colorado actually has a billion dollar plan to remove this bush from the state because it is drinking so much water from the Colorado River. I actually cut this one myself near my back yard. Had to use a hand saw it my arm really burned after cutting this stuff. It has a higher density and deeper color than usual, apparently because growing conditions were not good and it didn’t get much water. The more stressed many trees are, the prettier the wood usually is. These pieces in some cases also have figure in them.

Workability: Works great as a craft wood and sands and finishes like a dream. Also the wood has an unusual natural shine (see the close ups). Color is sort of a pink champagne.