''Cistanche'' is a worldwide genus of holoparasitic desert plants in the family

Orobanchaceae Orobanchaceae, the broomrapes, is a family (biology), family of mostly parasitic plants of the order (biology), order Lamiales, with about 90 genus, genera and more than 2000 species. Many of these genera (e.g., ''Pedicularis'', ''Rhinanthus'', ...

. They lack

chlorophyll Chlorophyll 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 allows plants to absorb energy ...

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 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 Parasite, parasitic plants develop a specialized organ ...

s that connect to the conductive system of a host, extracting water and nutrients from the roots of the host plant.

Species

Species as according to Plants of the World Online :

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. Some species of ''Cistanche'' are native to the Taklimakan desert region of

Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC: previously 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 ...

northwest China where they grow on desert host plants

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 Ta ...

and ''

Haloxylon ammodendron '' Haloxylon ammodendron'', variously called the saxaul (), black saxaul, also spelled sacsaoul or saksaul is a plant belonging to the family Amaranthaceae. "Saksaul" is a common Turkic word that entered Russian through Kazakh. Description The ...

''.Cistanche tubulosa and deserticola: An In-Depth Analysis http://urbol.com/cistanche-tubulosa-and-deserticola/

Uses

Along with other members of the genus, ''

Cistanche deserticola ''Cistanche deserticola'' is a Obligate parasite, 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 Haloxyl ...

'' is the primary source of the

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 t ...

cistanche (Chinese: 肉苁蓉,

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

ròucōngróng). The main sources of cistanche are ''

Cistanche salsa ''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. Tax ...

'' and ''Cistanche deserticola'', although it may also be obtained from ''

Cistanche tubulosa ''Cistanche tubulosa'' is a desert heterotrophic 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 t ...

'', '' Cistanche sinensis'', and '' Cistanche ambigua''. The drug, known in Chinese as ''suosuo dayun'', is collected in spring before sprouting, by slicing the stems of the plant. ''Cistanche deserticola'' has been placed on

CITES CITES (shorter acronym 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 inte ...

Appendix 2, a list of endangered species not banned from trade but requiring monitoring. With increased consumption of cistanche, the population of the species has decreased and its area of distribution has shrunk. Aside from over-collection or indiscriminate collection, an important factor in the diminished supply of cistanche is a loss of the host, ''

'', which is widely used for firewood.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2662256 Orobanchaceae Orobanchaceae genera Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine