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"Turkmen cranberry" or soft–leaved cretaceous is a medicinal plant of Kaplankyr, which belongs to the "red book" and medicinal flora of Turkmenistan. Part of its range is protected in the Syunt-Khasardag, Kopetdag, Kaplankyr and Badkhyz state nature reserves belonging to the structure of the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the country. This is stated in the article of the Turkmenmetbugat newspaper.

The plant is one of the few that has been preserved as part of the local flora as remnants of vegetation, which is a legacy of previous geological epochs with a wetter climate originating in the prehistoric past.

"By now, as a result of historical and geological events, the integrity of the once magnificent species has been violated, its modern natural populations have turned out to be fragmented and small in number. Its fragmentary dispersion suggests that it is a relict species, that is, it has grown on the territory of Turkmenistan since ancient times. Scientists recognize it as the most ancient representative of the Peganov family, a declining endemic," says the article by Ogulgul Meredova, a junior researcher at the Sunt–Hasardag State Nature Reserve of the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan.

The persistent appearance is reflected in the folk name "çägemik". In appearance, the woody semi-shrub resembles a vine. Although the plant is moisture-loving, it prefers clay, sandy, gravelly, saline soils of lowland savannah and steppes close to the desert than mountain gorges or swampy river floodplains and does not rise above 800-1200 meters above sea level.

Its annual stems are covered with shiny white bark, which then turns gray, curved, and from 80 cm to 1.5 m long. The plant is very beautiful, stands out spectacularly among the scorched vegetation with fresh pale green foliage. From May to July, it is completely covered with small greenish-yellow star-shaped flowers, and until September it will form bright red beads with a spicy cherry-cranberry flavor.

Their shape, fragrant juice, and coloring prompted scientists to name the species "Turkmen cranberry" because of its obvious similarity to the original. The berries of the soft-fruited cretaceous contain 8 percent of sugars, malic and citric acid with a large amount of vitamin C and carotene. Fruits have a beneficial and invigorating effect on the general condition of the body in hot weather, stimulate the work of the gastrointestinal tract, help to cope with colds, vitamin deficiency, and visual impairment.

Today, the soft fruit is propagated from seeds in scientific nurseries of the environmental department, in the Makhtumkuli Scientific and Production Experimental Center for Genetic Resources (Balkan Velayat), and the Ashgabat Botanical Garden. The species grows well and bears fruit in culture, withstands heat up to +50 C and frosts up to -30, and lives up to half a century.

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Photo: Ogulgul Meredowa