Cicer songaricum seed

LATIN NAME: Cicer songaricum

COMMON NAME: Songar Cicer

In the high, dry valleys of the central Asia grows a wild cousin of the familiar chickpea. The Songar cicer is a low, much-branched, perennial herb with the fine, pinnate leaves of the many small, oval leaflets and, through the summer, the small, pink, purple or white, pea-like flowers, followed by the small, inflated, one-seeded pods. It grows low and tight against the stony ground, standing up to the cold winters and the dry summers of the high valleys, and its deep roots go down in search of the water. It is a species of the flowering herb in the pea family, native to the high, dry valleys and the stony slopes of the central Asia, while it is treasured for its tough, drought-hardy ways, and it is known as the Songar cicer.

The Songar cicer belongs to the pea family, Fabaceae, and it is a low, much-branched, perennial herb of the high, dry valleys and the stony slopes of the central Asia, while it is treasured for its tough, drought-hardy ways, and it is known as the Songar cicer. It is a wild relative of the cultivated chickpea, and it shares the same fine, pinnate leaves and pea-like flowers. It is prized for its tough, dry-land form.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

What has drawn the scientists to the Songar cicer is its kinship with the chickpea. The wild cicers carry a pool of the tough, drought-hardy and disease-resistant genes, and plant breeders have studied them as a source of the resilience for the cultivated chickpea, while the ecology of the wild pea plants of the dry valleys has been written about in the botanical papers. The plant has also been looked at for its nitrogen-fixing roots, which feed the poor, stony ground, and for its role in the dry-land ecosystems of the region. Its seed has been studied for its hardiness and its dormancy, and its small, inflated pods for the way they hold the single seed. For a modest wild pea, the Songar cicer has a surprisingly busy record of research.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

For the dry-land garden and the rockery, the Songar cicer is a quiet gem. Its small, pink or purple, pea-like flowers feed the bees and the many insects, and its tough, much-branched growth holds the stony ground, while its small, one-seeded pods feed the birds. Its kinship with the chickpea makes it a treasure of the breeding work, and its drought-hardy ways have made it a valued plant of the dry garden and the reclamation. Its nitrogen-fixing roots feed the poor ground it grows in, and its low, tight form makes a fine plant of the rockery and the dry bank. The Songar cicer is an easy, rewarding plant for the grower, and for the dry-garden gardener it brings a pink-flowered, tough pea. Soak the hard seeds in a cup of warm water for a day, then sow them at a shallow depth in pots of sandy, free-draining soil, keep the pots in a warm, bright, open spot and water them sparingly, and the first shoots will soon push through.