Populus euphratica
Euphrates poplar (Populus euphratica )
The Euphrates poplar (Populus euphratica ) is a plant of the genus poplar (Populus ) in the family of the willow family ( Salicaceae ).
Description
Populus euphratica grows as a tree and reaches stature heights of up to 15 m, rarely a shrub. The bark is grayish - brown. The bark of the branches is brown and hairy or smooth. The brown buds are about 7 mm. The foliage leaf is petiolate and easy. On mature trees the petiole is about as long as the leaf blade. On seedlings of the petiole is short. Increased temperature tolerance of the sheets is caused by the emission of isoprene. Due to the different-shaped leaves that grow on the same tree, is another Latin name Populus diversifolia, " poplar with different leaves ".
Populus euphratica are dioecious getrenntgeschlechtig ( dioecious ). The slender male catkins are 2-3 cm long. The anthers are purple - red. During the heyday of the female catkins are 2.5 cm, during the fruiting 9 cm long. The ovary is elongated oval. In the female flower three yellowish- green bilobed scars are present. The flowering period is in May.
The two-to dreifächerige capsule fruit is 1 to 1.2 cm in size. The fruits ripen from July to August.
Occurrence
Populus euphratica growing in plains, valleys and basins at altitudes 200-2400 m. The home of Populus euphratica is the south-western Asia, Afghanistan, India, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and the Chinese provinces of Gansu, western Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Xinjiang. Populus euphratica in China is in the south of Xinjiang, in the western part of the Qaidambeckens in Qinghai, in the Hexi Corridor ( Gansu Corridor ) in Gansu and disseminated in the Hetao area of Inner Mongolia. It is planted in forests and used as a field boundary and wind protection. Populus euphratica is salt tolerant and grows in arid and semi-arid areas at sites where groundwater is close to the surface. She has a history of more than 6.8 million years.
Nature Reserves in China
In the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China is a nature reserve (塔里 术 胡杨 保护 区, English Tarim Euphrates Poplar National Nature Reserve ) in the catchment area of the Tarim River from natural forests with Euphrates poplars. The trees there make up about 90 percent of the world total area of these poplar species.
Also in Ejin Banner in Inner Mongolia, a nature reserve has been set up for them (额济纳 胡杨林 自然保护区, English Ejin diversifolius Poplar Forest National Nature Reserve ).