Abstract:

Desert annual plants grow rapidly and have a large seed output that has important feeding, medicinal, and ecological value. By checking documentaries, the information from herbarium collections, and field investigation results, this study aimed to define the number of species, distribution characteristics, and resource types of desert annual plants in Xinjiang. Results showed that Xinjiang has 236 species of desert annuals belonging to 109 genera in 20 families, among which Chenopodiaceae is the dominant family and Salsola is the dominant genera. Families could be divided into four areal types, with the cosmopolitan type comprising 65% of all families and occupying the dominant status in the flora. The genera could be divided into nine areal types and eight subtypes, with dominant temperate genera comprising 77.98% of all genera. Among the main desert types, 126, 96, and 51 species of desert annual plants grow in sandy, gravel, and saline conditions, representing 53.38%, 40.67%, and 21.61% of all species, respectively. Among these species, 51 and 55 species of desert annual plants can be used as forage and medicine, respectively, among which species in Chenopodiaceae and Asteraceae were dominant. There were 64 winter annual plants with important ecological value, mainly in Brassicaceae, Poaceae, Asteraceae, and Boraginaceae.

Key words: desert, annual plants, floristic geography, resource utilization, Xinjiang