裸果木 luo guo mu

Gymnocarpos przewalskii var. scabrida Chaudhri, Meded. Bot. Mus. Herb. Rijks Univ. Utrecht 285: 58. 1968.

Shrublets 20--100 cm tall, forming thickets up to ca. 2 m wide. Bark dark gray, tender branches ochreous-red, nodes inflated. Leaves linear-subulate, 5--20 × 1--1.5 mm, apex acute, mucronate. Cymes axillary; bracts broadly elliptic, 6--8 × 3--5 mm. Sepals connate at base; tube ca. 1.5 mm; lobes reddish, oblanceolate, 3--4 mm. Petals absent. Outer stamens without anther; inner filaments 1.5--2.2 mm; anther ellipsoid, longitudinally dehiscent. Ovary subglobose. Seeds brown, oblong, ca. 1.6 × 1.2 mm. Fl. May--Jun, fr. Jul--Sep.

Gobi Desert, dry riverbeds, gravelly hill slopes; 800--2500 m. Gansu, W Nei Mongol, Ningxia, N Qinghai, Xinjiang [S Mongolia].

This is a rare species in China; it is useful for binding sand, and camels relish the tender branches.