Tetraena qatarensis sysnonym Zygophyllum qatarense, commonly known as Hadid, Harm, and Tulin. The habitats are Arabian peninsula, ME, and Persia.
Dr. raziq kakar
Zygophyllum qatarenseZygophyllum qatarenseA source of food, water, and minerals for livestock and other animals in the desert, Zygophyllum qatarense is also used for the treatment of different ailments in the desert ecosystems of the world.found in salty, arid environments, Zygophyllum qatarense displays a remarkable number of unique adaptations to its challenging surroundings. Zygophyllum is very special and unique plant of the desert. Glimpses of the Tetraena qatarensis
It is always fun walking and exploring the treasures and beauties of the desert. I love to walk and explore in the desert. Desert is the ocean of the sand but there is no Shark and no Stingrays. You can find beautiful and unique flora, fauna, sand dunes, songs of the air blowing, and sometimes a desert storm. Desert is a paradise but you have to choose a good time/weather to roam in the paradise. We have 3 months to go in the desert and inhale long breaths in the open and wide horizons of the desert.
Panoramic view of the desert in Abudhabi
Walking in humps and necks of the camels
In the desert, nature roams, nothing is managed or organized by human beings. The blow of the air, both the intensity and the direction decides the shapes of the dunes and the sands. You will feel like walking among the humps and necks of the camels as some dunes really look like the humps and the others like the neck of the camels. Nature has designed the camel in tune with the desert’s landscape. The colors and shapes of the sand dunes are much similar to the camels and vise versa. https://youtu.be/JaK5AEIy81c
The resemblance of the camels with the desert landscape
The nature’s engineering with the DNA to survive in aridity
Nature is wise and perfect, had learned to cope with climatic conditions under challenging conditions. The leaf, small fibrous hair, special barks, unique roots, and strong stress physiology make the desert flora and fauna fittest. Calitropis is one of the eccentric flora of the desert – surviving the arid conditions with smiles and flowers. The healthier and fresh shine of the leaves and flowers attract the attention of the desert’s travelers, especially when the visitor is an explorer.
Many people know Calitropis a cause of poison, unedible and useless but to me, it is an asset of biodiversity, a treasure of healing molecules, and food for some animals like goats, deers, desert rodents, and some beetles and other insects. The flowers are a rich source of nectar both for the sunbirds and the bees along with other insects.
The bunches of flowers- an attraction in the desert
Zygophyllum qatarense – A guarantee for sustainable greenery in the desert and food for the animals
Zygo is not only resilient, surviving aridity and salts but also responded very positively to the microflora in the livestock’s saliva, especially camels. The flora browzed by the camels is more healthy and shiny than those who grew tall and safe from the grazing. The Zygo is very much in a symbiotic relationship with the animals/livestock, attracting livestock (defecating and urinating around the flora) for soil fertility and igniting responsive physiology to keep itself healthy and stronger. I have found a unique fact always that the camels defecate and urinate around this flora, maybe eating Zygo stimulates camels’ GIT.
Camels are hunting the desert icecream, – Zygophyllum qatarense
In the picture below you can clearly differentiate the difference between the browsed and protected parts of the Zygophyllum qatarense.
Comparison of the browsed and protected Zygophyllum qatarense
The camel and the Zygophyllum have learned to live in a symbiotic relationship in the desert
Zygophyllum qatarense provides not only food for livestock and wild animals but also provides life support to birds and insects. It is a source of water, food, and minerals, especially salts. As discussed in the above paragraph, there is a strong and positive symbiotic relationship between the camels and Zygos.
Zygophyllum Browsed heavily by camels but very healthy and shinySome thought-provoking images of the desert flora
Crocodile in the desert – Ecoshaping the sand dunes
Citrullus or Gourd melon always makes a fence against the flowing/moving sands and the dunes. It is really amazing, exploring the worth of the desert melon.
Crocodile in the desert – Designed as a sleeping beast
Desert biodiversity, ranging from flora to fauna, and the detritivores and micro-organisms are unique and important, playing pivotal roles as biotic players of the desert ecosystems. I have been exploring the role of Zygophyllum qatarense in the desert for many years and share interesting facts from time to time.
Citrullus play a physical role as well, fixing the sand dunes in the desert
Sometimes, it makes very amazing structures with a blend of flora and sand. Later other types of flora grow there and the rodents and other wildlife make their home in the Citrullus to get protection from hyper-aridity and the desert storm. Though I have no references and no proof I’m quite sure that the rodents and rats feel protected from the eagles’ eyes in the Citrullus neighborhood. The Eagles can’t prey on the rodents in the Citrullus wine (as rodents make a home there and eat the seeds of flora) also dump the seeds in their burrows and help some of them to germinate again, avery unique symbiotic relationship.
Desert flora is playing a multidimensional role in challenging environmental conditions
Tetraena qatarensissynonym Zygophyllum qatarense commonly known as Harm, Hadidi & Thulin is a highly resilient shrub of the desert, halophytic and xerophytic. In my text, I have commonly used the word Zygophyllum qatarense
I have learned much about the camels, their preferences, and the desert’s flora. Zygophyllum has a very bitter taste and saltish plant because of its’ high salts contents and some level of alkaloids (which depress the appetite of the animals, though camels have higher tolerable levels for alkaloids). Such biochemical molecules in the bushes like Zygophyllum sp. depress the appetite as well as poisonous for some types of livestock. Producing such molecules (alkaloids, saponin, etc) is the strategy of the plants to save their race from the grazing animals, therefore Zygophylum qatarense is browsed by camels to a certain level but not minimized to the ground level.
Alain desert of UAE, the camels are grazing on Zygophyllum qatarense bush
Hard for other livestock to consume, Zygo is an Icecream for the camels
As mentioned before that Zygo is rich in water, salts, and other molecules which collective a very saltish and bitter taste to the bush, and many types of animals/livestock avoid consuming this bush but the camels love to eat it. I have named this plant as the camel ice-cream species because the camel eats lesser quantity but with very much desire. https://arkbiodiv.com/2017/12/21/part-2-ice-cream-species-of-plants-for-the-camel-and-goat/
Zygophyllum qatarense
Here in the below link; you can see the explanation by the author in a youtube video, how this bush is surveying, and pose a panoramic view of the desert. https://youtu.be/Izc8O6tdj5A