Kashgarian Bean Caper
Status: VU. Rare, little-studied endemic species.
Description. A shrub with twisted, spiny branches and grayish-brown striped bark, yellow wood. The stipules are very small and membranous. The leaves are linear, fleshy, blunt with two leaflets on petioles 6 - 10 mm long, opposite. Flowers in leaf axils, 1 - 2 on short pedicels 6 - 10 mm long. Capsules are oval, pointed at the base, blunt at the top, with fine reticulate venation, three-winged. Seeds are 1 - 2 in a nest, yellowish, with a bubble-like, porous surface.
Biological features. Blooms in June-July, fruits in August. Propagates by seeds. Distribution is general and within the country. Kashgaria, Central Tien Shan (Sary-Dzhaz).
Habitat. Grows in rocky desert.
Population. Insignificant, possible complete extinction.
Limiting factors. The species is very rare and may be destroyed by economic development of the area.
Cultivation. No information available.
Existing conservation measures. Included in the Red Books of the USSR (1975) and the Kyrgyz SSR (1985).
Recommended conservation measures. Clarify ranges, reserves, and organize a botanical reserve in the area of highest species concentration.
Kashgarian Bean Caper
Zygophyllum kaschgaricum Boriss
Kashgarian Bean Caper
Zygophyllum kaschgaricum Boriss
Status: VU. It is an endangered, rare, little-studied species endemic to Central Tien Shan, one of eight Kyrgyz congeners, scarcely distributed in the lowest part of the Sary-Dzhaz River basin. It populates plots with swamped soils among stony desert, in the low-montane zone. Period of flowering: June - July, fruiting in August; propagation is generative (by seeds), data about cultivation are absent. The population is insignificant, and extinction is possible. Limiting factors: probably any economic activity (this species is very rare and can easily go extinct). At present, there are no devised special methods for preservation despite its inclusion in the Red Book of the country in 1985; thus, studies of area and number should be continued, and the creation of a botanical wildlife area in the habitat is needed.
