This ecoregion represents the saline wetlands and mudflats at the mouth of the Luni River that flows down from the Aravalli Hills in northwestern India. Most of the ecoregion lies within Gujarat in India. The vegetation of the Great and Little Ranns—‘Rann’ meaning desert in Hindi—consists of grasses, thorny xerophytic scrub and short tangled trees. Sedges, dominated by species of Cyperus and Scirpus, emerge from the flooded areas. The surrounding areas have small perennial shrubs and mat-forming plants, such as Cressa cretica and Aeluropus lagopoides, the latter known as mangrove grass. The vegetation in the bets (sandy, high-ground areas) have halophytic, or salt-loving, shrubby seablights such as Suaeda fruticosa and S. nudiflora.
Rann of Kutch seasonal salt marsh
Source: Modified from One Earth CC BY-NC