Hormathophylla Cullen & T.R. Dudley
Genus with 11 taxa, of which two are present in N Africa: the largest, woody species is H. spinosa, a common subspiny shrub, and even dominant, in many landscapes of the high Atlasic mountains. The other is H. cochleata (Coss. & Durieu) Küpfer subsp. cochleata, a small chamephyte 5-15 cm tall and with a somewhat lignified base, consists of a basal rosette that emits sterile branches and floriferous scapes. The leaves of the sterile branches (4-12(16) × 1.5-4(6) mm) spatulate-oblong, rigid and attenuated at the base. Petals (5 × 2-2.5 mm) cream-colored. The fruits are spoon-shaped siliques (“cochleariforms”, hence the name of the species), longer than wide (4.5-6.5 × 4-5.5 mm). It extends through the mountains and dry plateaus of Morocco (Saharan Atlas and High Atlas) and Algeria (western and central portion of the plateau that separates the Tellian and Saharan Atlas, as well as in the latter range). It is a common species although of limited distribution. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Salmerón-Sánchez E., Fuertes-Aguilar J., Španiel S., Pérez-García F.J., Merlo E., Garrido-Becerra J.A., et al. (2018). Plant evolution in alkaline magnesium-rich soils: A phylogenetic study of the Mediterranean genus Hormathophylla (Cruciferae: Alysseae) based on nuclear and plastid sequences. PLoS ONE 13(12): e0208307. https://doi.org/ 10.1371/journal.pone.0208307
Updated by: E. Salmerón-Sánchez & F.J. Pérez García.