Chingil : a rare ornamental shrub

Chingil, also called Shengil or Chemysh, is a unique shrub. People value it for its beauty and useful traits. It thrives in salty areas like steppes, deserts, salt marshes, and tugai thickets. This plant loses its leaves in the fall. It has thorny branches and leaves with paired leaflets.

Botanical Details Chingil is a shrub that sheds its leaves. It grows from 0.5 to 2-3 meters tall. Its stems have soft hairs and thorns. The bark is gray. Leaves have an even number of leaflets (1-5 pairs). Leaflets are small, about 3 cm. They have a fuzzy surface. In summer, leaves are grayish-green. In autumn, they turn yellowish-green.

Flowers grow in clusters from the leaf axils. They are light purple, pink, or pale pink. The fruits are pods with many seeds. They have an odd shape and reach 3 cm. The pods are yellow-brown.

Taste Chingil fruits are not for people to eat. They lack a good taste. The food industry does not use them.

Where It Grows Chingil lives in Transcaucasia and Central Asia. It also grows in parts of Eurasia. You can find it in Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Pakistan. It is also in Afghanistan, Iran, and Turkey. Russia and Ukraine have it too. In Russia, chingil is grown on yellow acacia in some areas. These areas include Kursk, Voronezh, and Moscow regions, as well as southern European Russia.

Growing Conditions This plant likes a mild climate. It grows in salty soils. It handles salt well and resists drought. Chingil needs lots of sun to grow best.