Also -ac, -ach (erron. tamarisk). [app. a native Indian name in Canada.] a. Properly, The American Larch or HACKMATACK (Larix americana), growing in moist situations in British North America and the northern U.S.; also, the timber of this tree. b. Also applied to the Black or Ridge-pole Pine (Pinus Murrayana) of dry inland regions of western N. America, and app. sometimes to the Scrub Pine (P. contorta) of the coast (Cent. Dict.).
[a. 1817. T. Dwight, Trav. New Eng., etc. (1821), I. 36. Hacmontac, or Tamarisk.]
1841. J. F. Cooper, Deerslayer, xxiii. The tamarack is healthiest in the swamp.
1842. G. Barstow, Hist. N. Hampsh., 453. Boughs of the tamarac and spruce overhang the road.
1855. Longf., Hiaw. VII. 48. Give me of your roots, O Tamarack!
1874. Coues, Birds N. W., 152. Nesting in the tamarack swamps and windfalls of Minnesota.
