''Halothamnus iliensis'' 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 Central Asia.

Morphology

''Halothamnus iliensis'' is an

annual plant An annual plant is a plant that completes its life cycle, from germination to the production of seeds, within one growing season, and then dies. The length of growing seasons and period in which they take place vary according to geographical ...

with blueish-green, pale striped branches. The half-terete leaves are linear, and up to 50 mm long. The flowers are 3,8-4,6 mm long, shorter than their

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 ...

and bracteoles, with lanceolate tepals, their membranous margins at the apex distinctly wider than laterally. The stigmas have a widened, rounded, denticulate-fringed apex. The winged fruit is 10–15 mm in diameter, the tepal lobes with thick, spongy keels, forming a flat five radiated cone. The fruit tube has concave sides with sharply prominent ridges (veins). At its bottom, a wide, sharp-edged prominent peripheral rim surrounds the large ovate pits. In the lower parts of the plants, the fruits are heavier with shorter wings, in the upper part fruits are lighter with larger wings (

heterocarpy Amphicarpy is a reproductive strategy that occurs with 13 plant families, expressed mostly in species with an annual life cycle. It is characterized by production of two types of fruit, for different ecological roles. It is sometimes restricted to t ...

) file:Halothamnus iliensis fruit 1.JPG, fruit (lateral view) file: Halothamnus iliensis fruit 2.JPG, fruit (bottom) file: Halothamnus iliensis fruit 3.JPG, fruit (top)

Taxonomy

The species has been first described in 1912 as ''Salsola iliensis'' by Vladimir Ippolitovich Lipsky (In: B. Fedčenko: Trudy Imperatorskago S.-Peterburgskago Botaniceskago Sada. Acta Horti Petropolitani. St. Petersburg, Vol. 32, 1, p. 6). The species name refers to the location of the type specimen near the

Ili River The Ili ( ug, ئىلى دەرياسى, Ili deryasi, Ili dəryasi, 6=Или Дәряси; kk, Ile, ; russian: Или; zh, c=伊犁河, p=Yīlí Hé, dng, Йили хә, Xiao'erjing: اِلِ حْ; mn, Ил, literally "Bareness") is a river sit ...

. In 1981,

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: Bot. Mater. Gerb. Bot. Inst. Komarova Akad. Nauk SSSR 18: p. 156). Within the genus, it belongs to the section ''Halothamnus''.

Distribution

The distribution area of ''Halothamnus iliensis'' extends from Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, northern Afghanistan to Tajikistan and

Kirghistan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to th ...

. It grows in semideserts on sandy, clayey, or stony, often saline soils, up to 850 m above sea level.

References

* Gabriele Kothe-Heinrich
''Revision der Gattung ''Halothamnus'' (Chenopodiaceae).'' Bibliotheca Botanica Bd. 143
Schweizerbart, Stuttgart 1993, , p. 65-68 * Gabriele Kothe-Heinrich: ''Halothamnus''. - In: Karl Heinz Rechinger et al. (Edit.): ''Flora Iranica Bd. 172, Chenopodiaceae'' - Akad. Druck, Graz 1997, , p. 262-263 and fig.7-8, tab. 147.

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q150431 iliensis Taxa named by Victor Botchantsev