The Azerbaijan shrub desert and steppe is a Deserts and Xeric Shrublands ecoregion occupying the Kura-Aras lowlands west of the Caspian Sea, with about seventy percent in Azerbaijan and the rest reaching into southeastern Georgia and northwestern Iran. It is the driest part of the Caucasus, a mosaic of wormwood (Artemisia) and saltwort (Salsola) semi-desert, feather-grass (Stipa) and yellow-bluestem steppe, and open pistachio-juniper woodlands, with riparian forests and wetlands along river floodplains. The climate is semi-arid to arid, temperate and continental, with long hot summers, short mild winters, and average annual precipitation of roughly 300 to 400 millimeters. Despite high endemism and a role as home to the world's largest population of goitered gazelle, only about six percent of the ecoregion lies within protected areas such as Shirvan and Aghgol national parks. For gardeners in dry, continental climates, the region's native flora includes drought-adapted ornamentals like feather grasses (Stipa) and endemic irises.

At a glance

About the deserts & xeric shrublands biome

Arid and semi-arid lands where low, erratic rainfall and high evaporation limit vegetation to drought-adapted shrubs, succulents, and sparse grasses. Day-to-night temperature swings are large, and life is finely tuned to water scarcity.

Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion

Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's CHELSA-derived current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.

Collections for this ecoregion

Curated multi-plant collections whose members all fit this ecoregion's zone range — no won't-grow members smuggled in. Overall fit class shown per collection is the weakest link across its members.

Related ecoregions