小沙拐枣 xiao sha guai zao

Calligonum juochiangense Liou f.

Shrubs 30-50 cm tall. Old branches gray or light yellow-gray; herbaceous branchlets of current year gray-green; joints 1-3.5 cm. Leaves 2-3 mm, lanceolate, apex acute. Pedicel 3-4 mm. Flowers 2 or 3 at leaf axil. Tepals reflexed in fruit, light red, broadly ovate. Fruit broadly ellipsoid, 7-12 × 6-8 mm. Achenes ovoid, coiled, permanently ribbed; each rib with 1 row of bristles; bristles free at base, 2- or 3-branched below middle. Fl. Apr-May, fr. May-Sep. 2n = 18*.

Sandy and stony deserts; 700-1500 m. Xinjiang [Mongolia].