''Haloxylon'' is a genus of shrubs or small trees, belonging to the plant

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Amaranthaceae Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus ''Amaranthus''. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making it ...

. ''Haloxylon'' and its species are known by the common name saxaul. According to Dmitry Ushakov, the name borrowed from the Kazakh "seksevil". In modern Kazakh language, the shrub is called "seksewil". According to the school etymological dictionary, the name ''saksaul'' was borrowed in the 19th century from the Turkic languages.

Description

The species of genus ''Haloxylon'' are shrubs or small trees (rarely up to ) tall, with a thick trunk and many branches. The branches of the current year are green, from erect to pendant. The leaves are reduced to small scales. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

s are short shoots borne on the stems of the previous year. The flowers are very small, as long or shorter than the

bracteole In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or o ...

s, bisexual or male. The two stigmas are very short. In fruit, the

perianth The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower, and structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla ( petals) or tepals when ...

segments develop spreading wings. The fruit with wings is about in diameter. The seed is about in diameter.

Distribution and habitat

The genus ''Haloxylon'' is distributed in southwest and Central Asia, from Egypt to Mongolia and China (

Sinkiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

and Kansu), where it grows in sandy habitats (

psammophyte A psammophyte is a plant that grows in sandy and often unstable soils. Psammophytes are commonly found growing on beaches, deserts, and sand dunes. Because they thrive in these challenging or inhospitable habitats, psammophytes are considered ext ...

Taxonomy

The genus name ''Haloxylon'' was published by

Alexander Bunge Alexander Georg von Bunge (russian: Алекса́ндр Андре́евич Бу́нге; – ) was a Russian botanist. He is best remembered for scientific expeditions into Asia and especially Siberia. Early life and education Bunge was bo ...

(ex

Eduard Fenzl Eduard Fenzl (1808, in Krummnußbaum – 1879, in Vienna) was an Austrian botanist. Life and contributions An obituary notes " was Professor of Botany and Director of the Imperial Botanical Cabinet, a member of the Vienna Academy of Sciences, ...

) in 1851, with the type species ''

Haloxylon ammodendron ''Haloxylon ammodendron'', the saxaul, black saxaul, sometimes sacsaoul or saksaul ( rus, саксау́л, r=saksaúl, which is from kk, сексеуіл, r=seksewil), is a plant belonging to the family Amaranthaceae. Description The saxaul ra ...

''. The genus belongs to the subfamily

Salsoloideae The Salsoloideae are a subfamily of the Amaranthaceae, formerly in family Chenopodiaceae. Description These are herbs, subshrubs, shrubs and some trees. Stems and leaves are often succulent. The ovary contains a spiral embryo. In most genera ...

in the family

, It consists of only two species: * ''

'' (C.A.Mey.) Bunge ex Fenzl. (Synonym: ''Haloxylon aphyllum'') – black saxaul * ''

Haloxylon persicum ''Haloxylon persicum'', the white saxaul, is a small tree belonging to the family Amaranthaceae. Its range is Western Asia, including the Palestine region, Egypt, Sinai, South Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Oman, UAE, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, to ...

'' Bunge ex Boiss. – white saxaul Phylogenetic research revealed that several species formerly included in ''Haloxylon'' are not related to this genus. They are now classified to genus '' Hammada'', with exception of the former ''Haloxylon stocksii'' (syn. ''Haloxylon recurvum''), which has been moved to '' Salsola stocksii''. The common name ''saxaul'', sometimes ''sacsaoul'' or ''saksaul'', comes from the Russian ''саксаул'' (''saksaul''), which is from Kazakh ''сексеуiл'' (''seksewil'').

Ecology

In the deserts of

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

, a large number of birds are associated with saxaul, including the saxaul sparrow.

Uses

In the former bed of the Aral Sea, saxaul trees are being planted to stop the wind picking up contaminated sand from the dried up sea bed and spreading them through the atmosphere. The plan is to cover the entire former bed with a forest.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q268179 Amaranthaceae Amaranthaceae genera Taxa named by Eduard Fenzl