South Iran Nubo-Sindian desert and semi-desert
RESOLVE 841
The South Iran Nubo-Sindian desert and semi-desert spans the northern coastal plain of the Persian Gulf and the inland desert hills south of the Zagros Mountains, reaching across southern Iran with extensions into southeastern Iraq and southwestern Pakistan. Inland it is a landscape of dry shrubland and sandy desert dominated by Euphorbia (notably Euphorbia larica), Christ's thorn jujube, and thorn woodlands of Vachellia (Acacia) and Prosopis, while coastal zones support grey mangrove forests of Avicennia marina and salt-tolerant vegetation along river deltas. The climate is a hot desert climate, with extremely hot, dry summers and mild winters. It serves as an ecological meeting point where African, Indian, and Middle Eastern species coexist, with the chinkara gazelle as a flagship species alongside endemic reptiles such as the Persian krait; roughly 7 to 9 percent of the ecoregion is officially protected, though mangroves, overhunting, and oil and agricultural pollution remain ongoing pressures. Gardeners in comparably arid climates may recognize native genera such as Tamarix, Prosopis, and Convolvulus that occur here.
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.
Collections for this ecoregion
No curated collection's plants all fit this ecoregion's zone range. We surface a collection only when every member would grow here — partial fits get filtered out rather than mislead. As the catalog and the curated set both grow, this section will fill in.