I understand that the salt bush (chenopodiaceae) grows and survives in
the saudi desert as well as being used as plants around town.  I am
particularly interested to find out if it grows in the central desert
- outside Riyadh west towards the Lake Karrarah aeea (a temporary lake
formed from winter rains)l.  If it grows there (and my sketchy info
indicates that it does) what is its size, color, smell, flowers? water
needed?  Could a cat pick up the smell of this bush?  Would a sand
viper hide under this bush? If the salt bush is not typically found in
that area, what other bush(es) would be? Please give the same details
about these as requested for the salt bush, including would cats pick
up on the smell, and would sand vipers hide under them Pictures would
be great!  I am an elementary teacher (I lived in Saudi for a year and
wish now that I had taken  better notes!) who is writing a children's
story so the sources need to be very reliable and accurate.