Cleome paradoxa R.Br. ex DC.
Ara.: Hindeib, mufrak el rowair, na’anaa, kowal (last 3 in Sudan). Tamahaq: ézéfargasan, azren, hoyad, aehooyad.
Herbaceous perennial robust plant or subshrub large in size (up to 2 m) with woody rootstock, exceptionally annual. Glabrous or sparsely glandular at the top of the stems. Leaves compound, imparipinnate, with 3-5 leaflets 1.5-6 × 0.1-0.6 cm, linear to narrowly elliptic, glabrous, with petiole 2-10 cm. Flowers bracteate, in a raceme with numerous flowers, bracts 5-15 × 0.5-1 mm and pedicels 1-3 cm. Sepals lanceolate or triangular-ovate, glandular, irregular. Petals dimorphic, the larger petals double in size of the smaller ones (1.5-3 × 0.5-1.5 cm), elliptic, yellow, sometimes with a strong reddish venation. Stamens 6. Gynophore 1-2.5 cm. Fruits linear, long (9-13 × 0.3-0.6 cm). Seeds reticulated, 1.5 mm, densely hairy at maturity.
Flowering:
February to May and sometimes in other periods of exceptional rainfall.
Fruiting:
About a month after flowering.
Habitat:
Sandy wadis, rocky slopes, with a sporadic ruderal behaviour.
Distribution:
Southern Sahara and Arabian Peninsula.
Observations:
A similar species, also with linear leaflets, is C. tenella L.f.; it can be differentiated by its much shorter leaflets (1-3 cm), smaller flowers (c. 4 mm) with white or pale yellow petals, and much shorter capsules (3.5-5 cm). Its distribution is mainly Sahelian-Sindian, from Mauritania and Senegal to India, reaching towards the S to Tanzania and Madagascar. In North Africa, it grows in the Sahel, from Mauritania up to Sudan and Eritrea.
Conservation status:
Rare but widely distributed species. Currently, they have not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.