In the minds of most people, the desert should be a place where no grass grows, but in fact, there are some sand plants that have played an important role in China's cause of controlling desertification and desertification, and many of them are "star tree species" such as shuttles, flower sticks, and lemon strips, which are well known to many people with ant forests, but do you know what they look like? Today Xiaobian takes you to see what these sand plants look like in the desert of Wuwei Minqin, the famous city of sand control. This picture is the shuttle that has grown for a year or two in August this year.
These shuttles are almost a decade old. Solanaceae is a plant of the genus Thyropodaceae, the root system is developed, the main root is curved and stretched down, with drought resistance, high temperature resistance, salinity resistance, wind erosion resistance, cold resistance and many other characteristics, so it is an extremely important windproof sand fixation plant, known as the desert guardian, in the desert and semi-desert areas of the distribution is extremely extensive, with great ecological benefits. They are also almost the most common species of sand control tree in the northwestern desert of China. At the same time, the roots of the shuttle can also parasitize another desert cash crop.
This is the desert treasure parasitic at the root of the shuttle - cistanche, this special herb almost all grow in the ground, only in the spring when the flowering protrudes from the ground, they absorb nutrients and water from the shuttle host, known as "desert ginseng" reputation, has a high medicinal value, is the traditional Chinese precious Chinese herbal medicine. Cistanche has historically been used as a treasure of the Shanggong Imperial Court by the countries of the Western Regions, and it is also one of the most frequently used tonic drugs in the prescription of kidney aphrodisiac in the past.
This plant full of small and cute fruits is called white thorn, tribulus terrestris family plant white thorn has been found in the world 12 species, China has 8 species, is an important group of plants in desert areas, but also an excellent sand fixation tree species.
This is the white thorn fruit, it looks a bit gray-headed, but the taste is still quite good, this fruit is made as a desert cherry in Wuwei, but after the editor's own mouth, it feels that the taste is not like a cherry, but a bit like the taste of rose varieties of grapes.
This kind of plant with a small lantern is called sand jujube, don't look at them a little weak, but they are like many quinoa plants are pioneer plants for wind and sand fixation. Xiaobian saw them when they did not catch up with the most beautiful flowers and fruits, sand dates bloomed in large numbers around May, red and lustrous, can be regarded as a beautiful scenery on the desert, around July the fruit is also red, has now dried off the remaining seeds and some dry flesh, wrapped in a layer of a little burrs. Their seeds are particularly light, and when they fall, they can wander in the desert with the wind to expand their territory.
This grass is locally called shami, in fact, it is a particularly common desert plant shapeng, quinoa family shapeng plant, the reason why it is commonly called shami, because they will bear seeds in the autumn, the size is a little smaller than millet, locally placed in a variety of noodle soup or lentil rice soup, Xiaobian ate at the local breakfast in Minqin, the taste is not bad.
Flowering red willow, when it comes to red willow, it is estimated that the first thing that comes to mind is that many Xinjiang-style barbecue shops use kebabs to grill lamb skewers is the branches of red willow. The scientific name of red willow is multi-branch tamarind willow, which is one of the plants widely distributed in the desert area of China like The Shuttle, and has the characteristics of strong adaptation to the arid desert environment; it is not only an excellent windproof and sand fixing plant, but also a soil and water conservation tree species and a green afforestation tree species in saline and alkaline land, and it is also a good charcoal, weaving and construction material.
This kind of plant that does not look too good is locally called black wolfberry, the scientific name is called black fruit wolfberry, solanaceae wolfberry plant, there are many thorns, its anthocyanins are amazing, Xiaobian casually touches it is a hand of purple, in line with the spirit of Shennong tasting hundreds of herbs, of course, you have to taste it yourself, the taste of typical solanaceae fruits, but because it is pure wild sake, the taste is relatively flat, not sweet nor sour, the water is not much, but scientific research This fruit is rich in protein, goji berry polysaccharides, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, Trace elements and other nutrients, locals generally pick them up and soak them in water to drink.
Artemisia annua, a plant of the genus Artemisia asteraceae, is also a sand fixation plant, a long and a large piece, Xiaobian tasted it, the taste is similar to Artemisia annua, the taste is bitter. The locals do eat it, but when the seeds are harvested in the autumn, they will harvest the seeds as an ingredient, using the same method as sharmi, and even squeezing oil. However, for artemisia annua, Beijingers may have a deeper understanding of the fact that it is not autumn, and the pollen of artemisia annua that comes with the north wind has caused many people to suffer from autumn allergies.
In the ant forest, the small fresh tree species flower stick, the flowers bloom in the summer, and its name is particularly appropriate, but in fact, its scientific name is called fine-branched rock astragalus, legume rock astragalus semi-shrub plant, excellent sand fixation plants, the northwest region is generally used as an excellent sand fixation tree species, can be directly or flying afforestation, with shuttle, red willow can be called sand control three jie. The flower sticks are not only beautiful in bloom, the tree species can be described as a treasure all over the body, the young branches and leaves are excellent feed, camels and horses like to eat, the wood is a durable charcoal, the flowers are excellent honey sources, and the seeds are excellent refined feed and oilseeds.
The famous sand jujube, because it is particularly widely distributed, so the alias is particularly many, Baidu encyclopedia can be found on the alias there are qilixiang, fragrant willow, thorn willow, cinnamon willow, silver willow, silver willow beard, ya geda, red bean, then to mao dao, to the knot grid, Hu Zi family deciduous trees, high can grow to 10 meters, sand jujube vitality is very strong, with drought resistance, wind and sand, salt and alkali resistance, barrenness tolerance and other characteristics. Natural dates are only distributed in desert and semi-desert areas with less than 150 mm of precipitation. Jujube fruit can be eaten, in addition to raw food in many places also cooked food or even beaten in flour as a staple food.
Lemon strips are also important sand fixing tree species. The legume genus, the branches and leaves are shiny and reflect a metallic luster, in fact, there is quite a potential for horticultural varieties.