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Cistanche Sinensis
''Cistanche'' is a worldwide genus of holoparasitic desert plants in the family Orobanchaceae. They lack chlorophyll and obtain nutrients and water from the host plants whose roots they parasitize. They are often known as desert hyacinths. Taxonomy There are between 20 and 30 species of ''Cistanche''. The most comprehensive description of the genus was published in 1930. The taxonomy is difficult because important features of the flowers are often poorly preserved after drying. The plants are found from the Mediterranean region, North Africa, Middle East through to China. The species of ''Cistanche'' are parasitic plants that connect to the conductive system of a host, extracting water and nutrients from the roots of the host plant. Growth They typically grow in desert or sand dune areas Growing in arid regions, where their flower spikes that emerge from bare ground are the only evidence of the presence of the plants. They do not have leaves and do not perform photosynthesis. S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cistanche Tubulosa
''Cistanche tubulosa'' is a desert holoparasitic plant species in the genus ''Cistanche''. It lacks chlorophyll and obtains nutrients and water from the host plants whose roots it parasitizes. Uses The plant is grown in the Taklamakan Desert, and is traditionally used for medicines and foods in China. The main sources of the Chinese herbal medicine cistanche (Chinese: 肉苁蓉, pinyin ròucongróng) are ''Cistanche salsa'' and ''Cistanche deserticola ''Cistanche deserticola'' is a holoparasitic member of the plant family Orobanchaceae, commonly known as desert-broomrape. The plant lacks chlorophyll and obtains its nutrients and water in a parasitic fashion from the black saxaul (''Haloxylon ...'', although it may also be obtained from ''C. tubulosa''. The drug, known in Chinese as ''suosuo dayun'', is collected in spring before sprouting, by slicing the stems of the plant. References External links * * Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine Orobanchaceae Par ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taklimakan
The Taklimakan or Taklamakan Desert (; zh, s=塔克拉玛干沙漠, p=Tǎkèlāmǎgān Shāmò, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Такәламаган Шамә; ug, تەكلىماكان قۇملۇقى, Täklimakan qumluqi; also spelled Taklimakan and Teklimakan) is a desert in Southwestern Xinjiang in Northwest China. It is bounded by the Kunlun Mountains to the south, the Pamir Mountains to the west, the Tian Shan range to the north, and the Gobi Desert to the east. Etymology While most researchers agree on being the Persian word for "place", etymology of ''Takla'' is less clear. The word may be a Uyghur borrowing of the Persian , "to leave alone/out/behind, relinquish, abandon" + ''makan''. Another plausible explanation suggests it is derived from Turki ''taqlar makan'', describing "the place of ruins". Chinese scholars Wang Guowei and Huang Wenbi linked the name to the Tocharians, a historical people of the Tarim Basin, making the meaning of "Taklamakan" similar to "Tocharistan". ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CITES
CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of international trade. It was drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The convention was opened for signature in 1973 and CITES entered into force on 1 July 1975. Its aim is to ensure that international trade (import/export) in specimens of animals and plants included under CITES, does not threaten the survival of the species in the wild. This is achieved via a system of permits and certificates. CITES affords varying degrees of protection to more than 38,000 species. , Secretary-General of CITES is Ivonne Higuero. Background CITES is one of the largest and oldest conservation and sustainable use agreements in existence. There are three working lang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese form, to learners already familiar with the Latin alphabet. The system includes four diacritics denoting tones, but pinyin without tone marks is used to spell Chinese names and words in languages written in the Latin script, and is also used in certain computer input methods to enter Chinese characters. The word ' () literally means " Han language" (i.e. Chinese language), while ' () means "spelled sounds". The pinyin system was developed in the 1950s by a group of Chinese linguists including Zhou Youguang and was based on earlier forms of romanizations of Chinese. It was published by the Chinese Government in 1958 and revised several times. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) adopted pinyin as an international st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Herbal Medicine
Chinese herbology () is the theory of traditional Chinese herbal therapy, which accounts for the majority of treatments in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). A ''Nature'' editorial described TCM as "fraught with pseudoscience", and said that the most obvious reason why it has not delivered many cures is that the majority of its treatments have no logical mechanism of action. The term herbology is misleading in the sense that, while plant elements are by far the most commonly used substances, animal, human, and mineral products are also utilized, among which some are poisonous. In the ''Huangdi Neijing'' they are referred to as () which means toxin, poison, or medicine. Paul U. Unschuld points out that this is similar etymology to the Greek ''pharmakon'' and so he uses the term "pharmaceutic". Thus, the term "medicinal" (instead of herb) is usually preferred as a translation for (). Research into the effectiveness of traditional Chinese herbal therapy is of poor quality and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ranges in size from a large shrub to a small tree, , rarely tall. It has a brown trunk up to in diameter. The wood is heavy and coarse and the bark is spongy and water-soaked. The branches of the current year are green; older branches are brown, or gray to white. The leaves are reduced to very small cusp-like scales, so that the plant appears nearly leafless. The infloresences consist of short lateral shoots borne on stems of the previous year. The flowers are bisexual or male, very small, as long as or shorter than the bracteoles. The flowering period is from March to April. In fruit, the perianth segments develop spreading pale brown or white wings. The diameter of the winged fruit is about . The seed is in diameter. The fruiting pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tamarix
The genus ''Tamarix'' (tamarisk, salt cedar, taray) is composed of about 50–60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa. The generic name originated in Latin and may refer to the Tamaris River in Hispania Tarraconensis (Spain). Description They are evergreen or deciduous shrubs or trees growing to in height and forming dense thickets. The largest, '' Tamarix aphylla'', is an evergreen tree that can grow to tall. They usually grow on saline soils, tolerating up to 15,000 ppm soluble salt, and can also tolerate alkaline conditions. Tamarisks are characterized by slender branches and grey-green foliage. The bark of young branches is smooth and reddish brown. As the plants age, the bark becomes gray-brown, ridged and furrowed. The leaves are scale-like, almost like that of junipers, 1–2 mm (1/20" to 1/10") long, and overlap each other along the stem. They are often encrusted with salt secretions. The pink t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
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 of the country at the crossroads of Central Asia and East Asia. Being the largest province-level division of China by area and the 8th-largest country subdivision in the world, Xinjiang spans over and has about 25 million inhabitants. Xinjiang borders the countries of Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. The rugged Karakoram, Kunlun and Tian Shan mountain ranges occupy much of Xinjiang's borders, as well as its western and southern regions. The Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract regions, both administered by China, are claimed by India. Xinjiang also borders the Tibet Autonomous Region and the provinces of Gansu and Qinghai. The most well-known route of the historic Silk Road ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parasitic Plant
A parasitic plant is a plant that derives some or all of its nutritional requirements from another living plant. They make up about 1% of angiosperms and are found in almost every biome. All parasitic plants develop a specialized organ called the haustorium, which penetrates the host plant, connecting them to the host vasculature – either the xylem, phloem, or both. For example, plants like '' Striga'' or '' Rhinanthus'' connect only to the xylem, via xylem bridges (xylem-feeding). Alternately, plants like '' Cuscuta'' and some members of ''Orobanche'' connect to both the xylem and phloem of the host. This provides them with the ability to extract water and nutrients from the host. Parasitic plants are classified depending on the location where the parasitic plant latches onto the host (root or stem), the amount of nutrients it requires, and their photosynthetic capability. Some parasitic plants can locate their host plants by detecting volatile chemicals in the air or soil gi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cistanche Ambigua
''Cistanche'' is a worldwide genus of holoparasitic desert plants in the family Orobanchaceae. They lack chlorophyll and obtain nutrients and water from the host plants whose roots they parasitize. They are often known as desert hyacinths. Taxonomy There are between 20 and 30 species of ''Cistanche''. The most comprehensive description of the genus was published in 1930. The taxonomy is difficult because important features of the flowers are often poorly preserved after drying. The plants are found from the Mediterranean region, North Africa, Middle East through to China. The species of ''Cistanche'' are parasitic plants that connect to the conductive system of a host, extracting water and nutrients from the roots of the host plant. Growth They typically grow in desert or sand dune areas Growing in arid regions, where their flower spikes that emerge from bare ground are the only evidence of the presence of the plants. They do not have leaves and do not perform photosynthesis. S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chlorophyll
Chlorophyll (also chlorophyl) is any of several related green pigments found in cyanobacteria and in the chloroplasts of algae and plants. Its name is derived from the Greek words , ("pale green") and , ("leaf"). Chlorophyll allow plants to absorb energy from light. Chlorophylls absorb light most strongly in the blue portion of the electromagnetic spectrum as well as the red portion. Conversely, it is a poor absorber of green and near-green portions of the spectrum. Hence chlorophyll-containing tissues appear green because green light, diffusively reflected by structures like cell walls, is less absorbed. Two types of chlorophyll exist in the photosystems of green plants: chlorophyll ''a'' and ''b''. History Chlorophyll was first isolated and named by Joseph Bienaimé Caventou and Pierre Joseph Pelletier in 1817. The presence of magnesium in chlorophyll was discovered in 1906, and was that element's first detection in living tissue. After initial work done by German c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orobanchaceae
Orobanchaceae, the broomrapes, is a family of mostly parasitic plants of the order Lamiales, with about 90 genera and more than 2000 species. Many of these genera (e.g., '' Pedicularis'', '' Rhinanthus'', '' Striga'') were formerly included in the family Scrophulariaceae '' sensu lato''. With its new circumscription, Orobanchaceae forms a distinct, monophyletic family. From a phylogenetic perspective, it is defined as the largest crown clade containing ''Orobanche major'' and relatives, but neither '' Paulownia tomentosa'' nor '' Phryma leptostachya'' nor ''Mazus japonicus''. The Orobanchaceae are annual herbs or perennial herbs or shrubs, and most (all except '' Lindenbergia'', '' Rehmannia'' and '' Triaenophora'') are parasitic on the roots of other plants—either holoparasitic or hemiparasitic (fully or partly parasitic). The holoparasitic species lack chlorophyll and therefore cannot perform photosynthesis. Description Orobanchaceae is the largest of the 20–28 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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