It is fast-growing on sandy and gravelly soils and rock, and is very hardy with a high salt tolerance | It is used for gastric, ophthalmic and stomach problems, as well as for hair scenting and dying; the dried leaves and stems are used to treat toothache |
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It is characteristic of deep sand, has a very long tap root reaching down to the water table and helps to stabilise the surrounding dunes | Its abundant, yellowish-white flowers appearing in spring are not only attractive, but also edible and have a sweet scent |
Relatively high, its fragile twigs are slender, the leaves tiny and the pretty, red, oval fruit is covered with hairy spines.
5Propagation is by seed or cuttings | It is a useful plant for sand dune stabilisation, hedges, massed planting and in the foreline of afforestation |
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Maintenance is low, and in extensive landscape schemes the plant will look after itself |
It features frequently in the folk medicine of the desert owing to its food value, high in sugar and nitrogen.
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