The Badghyz and Karabil semi-desert is a Palearctic desert-and-xeric-shrubland ecoregion spread across a hilly plateau north of the Paropamiz Mountains, the northernmost range of the Hindu Kush, taking in parts of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Iran. Its signature landscape is a savanna-like open woodland of wild pistachio (Pistacia vera) rising above a ground layer of drought-tolerant desert sedges (Carex), with Artemisia shrubs and saltwort on drier and saline ground. The climate is cold semi-arid, with hot dry summers and milder, wetter winters. The region is botanically rich, holding more than 1,100 vascular plant species along with local endemics, and its flagship animal is the Asian wild ass, or Turkmenian kulan, which alongside goitered gazelle and urial is protected in reserves such as the Badhyz State Reserve. For gardeners, the area is also the native home of showy wild bulbs, including the red-flowered Tulipa kuschkensis.

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