Agriophyllum

a genus of plants of the family Chenopodiaceae. They are annual heavily branched stiff grasses with alternate, entire, prickly leaves. The flowers are bisexual and grow in small capitate, axillary, spiny inflorescences. There are one to three perianth leaflets (sometimes they are absent). There are two or three stamens and two stigmata. The fruit is compressed with narrow wings. There are five or six species in the Middle East, Central Asia, the Caucasus, Southeast European USSR, and China. In the USSR there are five species, growing primarily in semistationary and shifting sands and on sandy steppes. The most common species is Agriophyllum squarrosum (formerly, A. arenarium), which is used for retaining sands. Young plants of this and other species of Agriophyllum serve as pasture for sheep and camels. The seeds contain oil.