''Halothamnus auriculus'' is a species of the plant genus ''

Halothamnus ''Halothamnus'' is a genus in the subfamily Salsoloideae of the family Amaranthaceae (s.l., now including Chenopodiaceae). The scientific name means saltbush, from the Greek ἅλς (''hals'') "salt" and θαμνος (''thamnos'') "bush". This r ...

'', that belongs to the subfamily Salsoloideae of the family Amaranthaceae, (formerly Chenopodiaceae). It occurs in Western and Middle Asia.

Morphology

''Halothamnus auriculus'' is a

sub-shrub A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or dwarf shrub is a short shrub, and is a woody plant. Prostrate shrub is a related term. "Subshrub" is often used interchangeably with "bush".Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their De ...

up to 90 cm high, with olive-grey or blueish-green pale-striate branches. The flat and slightly fleshy leaves are very variably shaped (lanceolate, triangular, ovate, cordate, kidney-shaped, or roundish), up to 68 mm long and 2,5–45 mm wide, with distinct membranous margins, often half-stem-clasping, the lower ones often decurrent, the upper ones often auriculate. The

bract 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 of ...

s are similar to the leaves. The bracteoles are adpressed to the perianth, scale-like, surrounded by membranous margins, shorter than perianth. The flowers are 3,4-1,7 mm long, the stigmas are widened and truncate at the apex. The winged fruit is 12–18 mm in diameter, their wings inserting in or above the middle. The tube of the fruit is broadly barrel-shaped, at its bottom with deep, furrow-like, linear or curved pits. file:Halothamnus auriculus fruit 1.JPG, fruit (lateral view) file:Halothamnus auriculus fruit 2.JPG, fruit (bottom) The subspecies ''H. auriculus'' subsp. ''acutifolius'' differs from subsp. ''auriculus'' by lanceolate, only 2,5–9 mm wide leaves, that are hardly clasping and not or very shortly decurrent, and by longer stigmas.

Taxonomy

The species has been first published in 1834 by

Alfred Moquin-Tandon Christian Horace Benedict Alfred Moquin-Tandon (7 May 1804 – 15 April 1863) was a French naturalist and doctor. Moquin-Tandon was professor of zoology at Marseille from 1829 until 1833, when he was appointed professor of botany and director of ...

as ''Salsola auricula'' (an image without description in C. P. Bélanger: Voyage aux Indes Orientales. Botanique I, Phanérogames, Paris). Moquin added the first description in 1840 (In: Chenopodearum Monographica Enumeratio, Paris, p. 135.)

Victor Petrovič Botschantzev Victor Petrovitch Botchantsev (russian: Виктор Петрович Бочанцев) (20 October 1910 - 30 August 1990) was a Russian botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of ...

included the species into the genus ''

'' in 1981 (In: Botaniceskjij Žurnal SSSR 66,1, p. 134). Within the genus, it belongs to section ''Halothamnus''. The species comprises two subspecies: ;''H. auriculus'' subsp. ''auriculus'' Synonyms: *''Salsola auricula'' Moq *''Caroxylon auriculum'' (Moq.) Moq. *''Aellenia auricula'' (Moq.) Ulbr. *''Salsola moquiniana'' Jaub. & Spach *''Halothamnus moquinianus'' (Jaub. & Spach) Botsch. ; ''H. auriculus'' subsp. ''acutifolius'' (Moq.) Kothe-Heinr. Synonyms: *''Salsola auricula'' β. ''acutifolia'' Moq. *''Salsola decurrens'' Jaub. & Spach *''Caroxylon acutifolium'' (Moq.) Moq., nom. illeg. *''Salsola acutifolia'' (Moq.) Bunge, nom. illeg. *''Halothamnus acutifolius'' (Moq.) Botsch., nom. illeg.

Distribution

The distribution area of ''Halothamnus auriculus'' covers northern Iran, Pakistan (

Baluchistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

), Afghanistan, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. It grows in

semidesert A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

s and dry shrubland on clay-gravel, often saline or gypsum soils from 500– 2550 m above sea-level.

Cultivation and uses

''Halothamnus auriculus'' is a good fodder plantG. K. Kinzikaeva: ''Aellenia''. - In: P. N. Občinnikov (Ed.): ''Flora Tadžikskoj SSR'' 3: p.419-425. - Leningrad: Nauka, 1968 and is planted for recultivation of pasture. In their leaves the plants accumulate

boron Boron is a chemical element with the symbol B and atomic number 5. In its crystalline form it is a brittle, dark, lustrous metalloid; in its amorphous form it is a brown powder. As the lightest element of the ''boron group'' it has th ...

.N. M. Amanova & G. K Kinzikaeva: ''Marevye (Chenopodiaceae Vent.) Ûžnogo Tadžikistana kak nakopiteli bora.'' - Izv. Akad. Nauk Tadžiksk. SSR Otd. Biol. Nauk 3, 1973, p.18-24. The whole plant contains the phytochemical compounds Quercetin-3-glucoside, 8-C-glucopyranosylapigenin, 5,6-dihydroxy-3′,4′,7-trimethoxy-flavone, 4′,5,7-trihydroxy-3′,6-dimethoxy-flavone, Quercetin-3′,4′-dimethyl ether, Allantoic acid, Allantoin, Oleanolic acid, β-Sitosterol, β-Sitosterol 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, and Lupeol.

References

Gabriele Kothe-Heinrich
''Revision der Gattung ''Halothamnus'' (Chenopodiaceae)''. Bibliotheca Botanica Bd. 143
Schweizerbart, Stuttgart 1993, , p. 68-80 Gabriele Kothe-Heinrich: ''Halothamnus''. - In: Karl Heinz Rechinger et al. (Edit.): ''Flora Iranica Bd. 172, Chenopodiaceae'' - Akad. Druck, Graz 1997, , p. 265-269 and fig.7-8, tab.149-150.

External links

* *

Digital herbarium specimens from Herbarium Berlin *
''Halothamnus auriculus'' at Tropicos
{{Taxonbar, from=Q290314 Halothamnus, auriculus Taxa named by Victor Botchantsev Taxa named by Alfred Moquin-Tandon