Saxaul
Haloxylon spp

Family: Amaranthaceae

What it is like

Haloxylon spp is an evergreen Shrub growing to 8 m (26ft) by 6 m (19ft) at a slow rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 10. Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils, prefers well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Suitable pH: neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline and saline soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought.

Height (m): 8

Where it is found

Sandy arid habitats (psammophyte). Harsh habitats such as moving or fixed sands, saline depressions, dry canyons, clay and rock submontane planes, rocky hill and mountain slopes and tertiary badlands

Southwest and Central Asia, from Egypt to Mongolia and China (Sinkiang and Kansu).

Conservation Status: This taxon has not yet been assessed

Countries/locations it is found in

Southwest and Central Asia, from Egypt to Mongolia and China (Sinkiang and Kansu).

How it is used

Food

Rating: 3

Its bark can be pressed to extract drinkable water--a critically important commodity for nomadic peoples.

Medicine

Rating: 2

See individual species. Roots host the parasitic plant cistanche, which traditional Asian herbalists use to produce a salty-tasting medicinal component used in treating ailments of infertility, age-related lethargy, blurred vision, memory loss, baldness, balance disorders and heart palpitations. Cistanche is sometimes known as the "ginseng of the desert."

Other

Rating: 4

It provides fodder for livestock. Its wood is a good fuel. Provides cover and forage for wildlife. The wood yields a green dye used for colouring wool yarn. Carbon Farming Solutions - Fodder: bank.

Fodder: Food given to the animals (including plants cut and carried to them) rather than forage for themselves.

Fodder: Bank: Fodder banks are plantings of high-quality fodder species. Their goal is to maintain healthy productive animals. They can be utilized all year, but are designed to bridge the forage scarcity of annual dry seasons. Fodder bank plants are usually trees or shrubs, and often legumes. The relatively deep roots of these woody perennials allow them to reach soil nutrients and moisture not available to grasses and herbaceous plants.

Management: Coppice: Cut to the ground repeatedly - resprouting vigorously. Non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.

Regional Crop: These crops have been domesticated and cultivated regionally but have not been adopted elsewhere and are typically not traded globally, Examples in this broad category include perennial cottons and many nuts and staple fruits.

Fodder: Bank: Fodder banks are plantings of high-quality fodder species. Their goal is to maintain healthy productive animals. They can be utilized all year, but are designed to bridge the forage scarcity of annual dry seasons. Fodder bank plants are usually trees or shrubs, and often legumes. The relatively deep roots of these woody perennials allow them to reach soil nutrients and moisture not available to grasses and herbaceous plants.

Management: Coppice: Cut to the ground repeatedly - resprouting vigorously. Non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.

Regional Crop: These crops have been domesticated and cultivated regionally but have not been adopted elsewhere and are typically not traded globally, Examples in this broad category include perennial cottons and many nuts and staple fruits.

Carbon Farming: Plants that can be a critical part of the solution to climate problems. The Carbon Farming Solution - Eric Toensmeier.

How it is grown

Climate: cold to warm temperate. Humidity: arid to semi-arid. Haloxylon species live in harsh habitats such as moving or fixed sands, saline depressions, dry canyons, clay and rock submontane planes, rocky hill and mountain slopes and tertiary badlands. They are shrubs or small trees 1–8 metres (3–26ft) tall. The well done species are Haloxylon ammodendron (saxaul), Haloxylon aphyllum (black saxaul), and Haloxylon persicum (white saxaul). They are very important and useful native plants in the arid region from the Caspian Sea eastward across the Gobi Desert having considerable tolerance for aridity, wind, salinity and limited nitrogen. Can grow in different soil types but the root is more successful in sandy soils rather than heavily textured soils. The succulent root system acquires more water and survives drought better in sandy soils providing good anchorage in strong winds. In good conditions with some available water small forests appear. Carbon Farming Solutions - Cultivation: regional crop. Management: coppice (Describes the non-destructive management systems that are used in cultivation).

Propagating it: See individual plant entries.

Best place to grow:

Habit: Shrub

Hardiness: 10-12

Growth: Slow

Soil: Light (sandy), medium

Shade: No shade

Moisture: Dry, moist

Things to keep in mind

Its other names

Local names

Haloxylon spp. Haloxylon species. Saxaul, Sacsaoul, Saksaul, C?????i?, Seksewil

Synonyms

See individual species.