Man-made tamarugo plantations are being introduced in the Tamarugal Pampa which are transforming the absolute desert ecosystem into an agroecosystem. No data available. Average composition of various tamarugo components for cattle feed. Pak et al. Na Ripe fruit 0.22 0.27 0.10 2.09 0.05 0.8 41.8 Green fruit 0.24 0.26 0.13 2.20 0.08 0.9 27.5 Seed 0.19 0.21 0.26 1.11 0.03 0.9 37.0 Dry leaf 3.55 0.19 0.46 1.62 0.11 18.7 14.7 Green leaf 1.44 0.25 0.39 1.86 0.03 5.8 62.0 Table 3.
Flowers golden yellow, in long axillary cylindrical spikes.
Germplasm Reported from the South American Center of Diversity, tamarugo, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate drought, high pH, salt, and sand. Also planted in Argentina and recommended for other saline deserts of the world. The desert ecosystem of the Tamarugal Pampa is highly specific. Under certain conditions of atmospheric humidity, tamarugo absorbs water through its leaves, transporting it to the root system and depositing it in the micro-rhizosphere, whence it is reabsorbed along with the soil nutrients. This explains why measurements of mean annual evaporation show much higher rates outside than inside the forest area, where a mere fraction of the water is lost in evaporation.