Salvadora persica
Toothbrush Tree
The Salvadora persica, commonly known as the Toothbrush Tree, Arak or Miswak, is a low evergreen tree or large shrub native to the Arabian Peninsula, north Africa and southern Asia. It forms a dense, drooping mass of pale green succulent-textured leaves on soft whitish branches, and carries small greenish flowers followed by pink to red edible berries.
It is one of the few woody plants that will grow on genuinely saline ground and in coastal sabkha margins, and it is deeply embedded in the cultural landscape of the region. Specifiers use it for saline site rehabilitation, native character planting and informal evergreen screening.
Specifications
- Height3 to 6 metres, occasionally taller on favourable ground
- Width3 to 6 metres, often broader than tall
- Native toThe Arabian Peninsula, north and east Africa, Iran, Pakistan and India
- FoliageThick, fleshy, pale green elliptic leaves held densely on drooping branches; evergreen
- Growth rateModerate
Conditions
- SoilTolerates a very wide range including saline, sandy, gravelly and alkaline soils; performs where most trees will not
- LightFull sun
- WaterLow; drought-tolerant once established and able to draw on saline groundwater
- ClimateThrives in hot arid, semi-arid and coastal regions and is fully adapted to Gulf conditions
Additional Features
- FormLow, dense, weeping mass of soft branches, readily grown as a multi-stemmed shrub or lifted to a small tree
- FlowersSmall greenish yellow flowers in loose sprays, inconspicuous but freely produced
- FruitSmall round berries ripening pink to red, edible and sweet, taken readily by birds
- UsesSaline and sabkha margin rehabilitation, native character planting, informal evergreen screening, windbreak understorey
- SpacingPlant 3 to 4 metres apart for a continuous screen, or 5 to 6 metres as individual specimens
- Low MaintenanceNeeds no routine pruning; cut back only to restrict spread or to lift a clear stem
- Pest ResistanceRobust and largely free of significant pest and disease problems
- Salt ToleranceHigh salt tolerance in both soil and groundwater, one of the principal reasons it is specified
- Drought ToleranceDeep rooting and reliably drought-tolerant in hot arid conditions
- Wildlife AttractionBerries are taken heavily by birds, and the dense drooping canopy gives nesting and roosting cover on open coastal ground
- Cultural SignificanceThe twigs are the traditional miswak chewing stick, and the species is long established in the cultural landscape of Arabia
The Toothbrush Tree is the answer where the soil is saline, the site is hot and the scheme needs to read as authentically Arabian.