The Desert Hyacinth (Cistanche
tubulosa) is a widely distributed annual that produces a dense pyramid
spike of bright yellow flowers topped by maroon-tinted buds. The yellow flowers
do not smell very nice and flies are attracted to the smell and carry the
pollen on their legs from plant to plant helping with pollination. The many
tiny seeds may remain dormant for years until the roots of the host plant are
close enough to trigger germination. It is one of the showiest plants of
Eastern Arabia with bright yellow, dense column of flowers sometimes
approaching one metre in height. It has varying flower colour with the flowers
either tightly packed in the spike or loose. They are widespread on sandy or
sandy-silty ground and can tolerate saline environments as well as disturbed
conditions, so are often seen growing near roads or tracks in the desert or
along the shores of the Arabian Gulf. They are parasitic, one of several such
plants in Arabia, and live off other plants to gain their nutritional needs, as
they have no green parts or leaves to synthesise chlorophyll directly. These
photographs were taken at Sabkhat Al Fasl on 24 January 2015 where they were
growing on some disturbed soil near my ringing site.
