Disliked by animals, it is the "nemesis" of sand

In the winter in the north, seeing some green is always a delight. The cold wind is howling, and the ground is covered with ice and snow. There is a plant that looks inconspicuous, but it is still rooted in the cold land of the north, lush and green, with strong vitality.

The sand juniper is also known as the forked juniper and stinking juniper. It is a creeping shrub of the genus Juniperus in the Cupressaceae family. The plant height is usually less than 1 meter. The branches are dense and extend obliquely upward. The branches of the annual branches are cylindrical. There are two types of leaves on the same plant: spiny leaves and scale leaves. The plant is dioecious. The cones grow at the top of the downward-bending twigs. They are mostly inverted triangular spheres. The seeds are often oval.

Sandy juniper is a shrub that grows naturally in sandy land. It is light-loving, cold-resistant, drought-resistant, barren-resistant, fast-growing, not susceptible to pests and diseases, and easy to maintain. Sandy juniper is often planted alone next to landscape stones, or in clusters on lawns, and can also be planted in patches to form hedges or ribbons. It is widely used in landscaping. Due to its strong cold resistance, sandy juniper can be used for soil and water conservation and sand fixation afforestation, so it is often planted in deserts and on the slopes of roads and rivers.

In Wushen Banner, Ordos City, large tracts of sand juniper bushes grow prostrately, forming a green ocean as the terrain undulates. This area of ​​46,600 hectares of sand juniper is currently the best growing, largest, and most concentrated and contiguous in my country. It plays a significant ecological role in the Maowusu Desert and is called the "Green Guardian" by the locals. This natural vegetation has powerful water storage, water collection and water conservation functions, supplementing and solving the drinking water and irrigation problems of people and livestock in the southeast of Maowusu Desert, and nurturing water resources such as Nalin River, Hailiutu River, and Baihe River. It also delivers 323 million cubic meters of water to the Yellow River every year, and is also an important water source conservation area in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River.

As the "nemesis" of sandy land, the sandy juniper is not favored by livestock and is rarely damaged by animals. The propagation speed of the sandy juniper has been significantly improved after branching, and its annual growth can reach 25 cm. It is reported that the sandy juniper is expanding naturally at a rate of more than 3,000 acres per year. In addition, the local area is also conducting experiments on soaps, incense and other products using sandy juniper as the main raw material.

The sand juniper also appeared in the Beijing-Tianjin sand source control project and the gentle slope of the "Forty-mile North Mountain Green Belt" in Yanqing District. While protecting the slope and fixing sand, it also became a beautiful scenery on the way to Beijing. The sand juniper was also planted on a large scale in the Kubuqi Desert Yili Control Area and will become a member of the sand peak carbon sink forest, contributing its own strength to achieving carbon neutrality. In order to achieve the "yellow soil without sky" in the core area of ​​the Winter Olympics, the sand juniper was planted on both sides of the important roads in the core area, silently playing its role.

Sandy juniper is small in size but has many uses. In addition to the above uses, it is also a traditional Chinese medicine that has the effects of dispelling wind and heat, promoting blood circulation and relieving pain. As an evergreen ground cover plant, sandy juniper is increasingly valued in gardening and has gradually become an indispensable material for winter plant landscape. I believe that in the near future, the application scope of sandy juniper will continue to expand and continue to show its charm on the land of the motherland.

Review expert: Gao Zhiling, Professor of College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Hebei Agricultural University

China Association for Science and Technology Department of Science Popularization

Xinhuanet

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