Caragana microphylla seed
LATIN NAME: Caragana microphylla
COMMON NAME: Little-Leaf Caragana
Out on the dry plains of the inner Asia, the little-leaf caragana is one of the toughest bushes around. It grows as a low, dense, much-branched shrub, reaching up to a couple of metres or so, with the fine, pinnate leaves of the many small, oval leaflets and, through the late spring, the small, yellow, pea-like flowers, followed by the small, narrow, green or brown pods of the few hard seeds. It stands up to the wind, the frost and the long dry spells of the steppe, and its deep, tough roots go far down into the ground in search of the water. It is a species of the flowering shrub in the pea family, native to the dry plains and the steppe of the inner Asia, while it is treasured for its tough, soil-holding ways, and it is known as the little-leaf caragana.
The little-leaf caragana belongs to the pea family, Fabaceae, and it is a low, dense, much-branched shrub of the dry plains and the steppe of the inner Asia, while it is treasured for its tough, soil-holding ways, and it is known as the little-leaf caragana. It is one of the best-loved bushes of the dry lands, grown for the shelter and the soil across the region. It is prized for its fine, small, yellow, pea-like flowers.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
Plant scientists have paid the little caragana a fair amount of attention, and most of it comes down to the soil. Like the other pea plants, its roots work with the soil bacteria to draw the nitrogen from the air, and the shrub has been studied as a builder of the poor, dry ground, while its deep, binding roots have made it a subject of the reclamation and the windbreak research. Its small, yellow flowers and its tough, dense growth have also been written about in the botanical papers, and its role in feeding the grazing animals of the steppe has been looked at. The shrub has been studied for its shelter-belts, where its dense, low growth breaks the wind and holds the drifting soil, and for its value as a fodder in the hard winters. For a shrub that holds the ground together, the little-leaf caragana has a rich and continuing record of study.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
Across the dry lands, the little-leaf caragana earns its place. Its small, yellow, pea-like flowers feed the bees and the many insects, and its tough, dense growth breaks the wind and holds the loose soil, while its fine, leafy twigs have long been a fodder for the grazing animals of the steppe. Its nitrogen-fixing roots feed the ground it stands in, and its hardy ways have made it a valued shrub of the windbreak and the reclamation. In the garden of the dry places, its small, yellow flowers light up the border in the late spring, and its dense, low form makes a fine, tough hedge. The little-leaf caragana is an easy, generous shrub for the grower, and for the dry-garden gardener it brings a yellow-flowered, soil-building bush. These seeds wear a hard coat — pour a cup of just-boiled water over them and let it cool overnight, then sow them at a shallow depth in pots of sandy, free-draining soil, keep the pots in a warm, bright spot and water them regularly, and they’ll be up within no time.