Plants of Central Asia and desert plants

Desert plants differ in sandy, stony and clayey deserts. Sandy deserts have white saxaul (reaching 6–7 m), juzgun (Calligonum), sand acacia, wormwood and saltworts; in spring tulips, boychechak (an early spring flower) and sedges also bloom. Stony deserts have sparse vegetation such as wormwood, tuyatovon and kermek. Salt marshes have saltworts, black-leaved saltwort, sarisazan and black saxaul. On loess in the piedmont plains lie ephemeral deserts: ephemerals sprout quickly on the wet days of spring, bloom, set seed and wither before the summer heat begins. Desert plants are adapted to dryness: roots are long and leaves small, needle-like or absent, and some use salty water as well. Along rivers and lakes there are tugai, where turanga poplar, willow, oleaster, reed and tamarisk grow.