Saltcedar, also referred to as tamarisk or tamarik, is a member of the Tamaricaaceae or tamarisk family. Saltcedar is a deciduous shrub or small tree that can grow from 5 to 30 feet tall. Trunks of the trees are slender upright, or branched, and covered with smooth reddish-brown bark that becomes ridged and furrowed with age. Leaves are deciduous, appressed, small, graygreen, and scalelike. Flowers are 5 petaled, pink to white in color, and crowded into numerous clusters on the end of twigs. Seeds are reddish-brown and extremely tiny.

Saltcedar is considered a noxious weed under North Dakota state law, thus landowners are required to eradicate or control the spread of the plant.