Tamarisk
This tree, also called the salt cedar, can grow up to 18 meters high and grow reddish, pinkish, or white flowers with 4-5 petals on each. The fruit of this tree is like a capsule that holds the seeds. This tree can produce up to 500,000 seeds annually, and the seeds can germinate in about a day. The seeds have large tufts on the end to help them fly away, like dandelions. This tree is important for the ecosystem in the Takla Makan Desert because the fruit provides food for the animals and the shade provides a good break from the smoldering heat of the desert.
Alhagi
This is a spiny perennial herb. Adult plants can be 35-45 cm long, and they rarely grow in the sand dunes in the middle of the desert, but lives mostly toward the edge of the river. Many scientists are conducting research on the growth of this root, for some reason or another.
Scorzonera
The Scorzonera is a perennial shrub that grows between 20-40 cm tall and the root is 4-10 mm in diameter. There can be more than one stem, which are a grayish-green colour. It grows in dry riverbeds, lowland sand dunes, gullies, valleys, hills, slopes, the plains at the the base of the mountains, between 500-2000 meters above sea level.
Ephedra Przewalskii
This shrub is found in dry sandy places and on stony hills. This is valuable in treating asthma and other lung diseases. Its seeds were placed in the Millennium Seed Bank, for safe keeping, just in case it disappeared from the face of the earth. Its tangled stems are a unique feature, as many plants have stems that stick strait up.
Nitraria Sphaerocarpa
This shrub grows between 25 and 50 cm tall. It lives in the arid plain of the Takla Makan desert and doesn't need a lot of water. Its leaves grow in clusters of 2-3, which are 5-25 mm long. Its stems are yellowish-gray, and its fruit grows in a ball, which is normally 1 cm in diameter. It flowers from May-June and the fruit ripens from June-July.