Abstract:Qira (Cele) oasis is located at the southern fringe of the Taklimakan Desert, the most arid region in northwest of China, where the mean annual precipitation is less than 40 mm and the potential evaporation is about 2600 mm. The perennials Alhagi sparsifolia Shap., Tamarix ramosissima Lebed. and Populus euphratica Oliv. are dominant and important indigenous species in the transition zone between open desert and the Qira oasis. Calligonum caput-medusae Schrenk., which is native to Xinjiang, but not to the re...