Cistanche

Cistanche is a Eurasian and African genus of holoparasitic desert plants in the family Orobanchaceae. They lack chlorophyll and obtain nutrients and water from the host plants whose roots they parasitize. They are often known as desert hyacinths.

Taxonomy

There are between 20 and 30 species of Cistanche. The most comprehensive description of the genus was published in 1930. The taxonomy is difficult because important features of the flowers are often poorly preserved after drying. The plants are found from the Mediterranean region, North Africa, Middle East through to China. The species of Cistanche are parasitic plants that connect to the conductive system of a host, extracting water and nutrients from the roots of the host plant.

Species

Species as according to Plants of the World Online as of 2024:

Image	Scientific name	Distribution
	Cistanche aethiopica	NW. Ethiopia
	Cistanche afghanica	SE. Afghanistan
	Cistanche armena	Transcaucasus
	Cistanche christisonioides	Pakistan
	Cistanche compacta	NE. Libya
	Cistanche deserticola	China, Mongolia
	Cistanche feddeana	Mongolia, China
	Cistanche fissa	Israel to Central Asia
	Cistanche flava	Iran, Kazakhstan, Tadzhikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
	Cistanche lanzhouensis	E. & S. Mongolia to N. China.
	Cistanche laxiflora	Afghanistan, Iran
	Cistanche lutea	Algeria, Morocco, Oman, Spain
	Cistanche mauritanica	Algeria, Morocco
	Cistanche mongolica	Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Tadzhikistan, Uzbekistan, China
	Cistanche phelypaea	Algeria, Benin, Canary Is., Cape Verde, Chad, Cyprus, Egypt, Italy, Kriti, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Portugal, Selvagens, Senegal, Spain, Sudan, Tunisia, Western Sahara
	Cistanche ridgewayana	Afghanistan, Iran, Tadzhikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
	Cistanche rosea	Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen
	Cistanche salsa	Afghanistan, China, Russia, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Mongolia, Qinghai, Tadzhikistan, Transcaucasus, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
	Cistanche sinensis	China
	Cistanche speciosa	Uzbekistan
	Cistanche stenostachya	Uzbekistan
	Cistanche trivalvis	Turkmenistan
	Cistanche tubulosa	Afghanistan, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gulf States, India, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Mozambique, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sinai, Socotra, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Turkmenistan, Yemen
	Cistanche violacea	Algeria, Chad, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sinai, Tunisia, Western Sahara

Growth

They typically grow in desert or sand dune areas Growing in arid regions, where their flower spikes that emerge from bare ground are the only evidence of the presence of the plants. They do not have leaves and do not perform photosynthesis.
Some species of Cistanche are native to the Taklimakan desert region of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region northwest China where they grow on desert host plants tamarix and Haloxylon ammodendron.

Uses

Along with other members of the genus, Cistanche deserticola is the primary source of the Chinese herbal medicine cistanche. The main sources of cistanche are Cistanche salsa and Cistanche deserticola, although it may also be obtained from Cistanche tubulosa, Cistanche sinensis, and Cistanche ambigua. The drug, known in Chinese as suosuo dayun, is collected in spring before sprouting, by slicing the stems of the plant. Cistanche deserticola has been placed on CITES Appendix 2, a list of endangered species not banned from trade but requiring monitoring. With increased consumption of cistanche, the population of the species has decreased and its area of distribution has shrunk. Aside from over-collection or indiscriminate collection, an important factor in the diminished supply of cistanche is a loss of the host, Haloxylon ammodendron, which is widely used for firewood.