Leptadenia pyrotechnica (Forssk.) Decne.
Cynanchum pyrotechnicum Forssk., L. spartum Wight
Eng.: Khip. Ara.: Rtem, anec, khip, marakh, markh, shajarat al nar, shajaret al barud, kalenba, khassabay, assabey (Niger). Tamahaq: Talembu, hanaeg, eneg, ânah, ana, tana, kissen, kanuri, tifarek, tittarek.
Retamoid shrub, deciduous, hermaphrodite, 1-3(5) m in height, branched from the base. Differs from other Saharan species of the genus by its stems which are leafless, slender, with opposite branching, highly branched, erect and rigid. Trunk and older branches with smooth grey-white bark, although in older and thicker parts it is slightly fissured. Young branches slightly striated, green, greenish-yellowish or sometimes slightly glaucous, glabrous, ± puberulent. Leaves opposite, sessile, very small (1-4 mm), appearing only occasionally in young branchlets of the current year, simple, with entire margin, green on both sides, glabrous, promptly deciduous. Inflorescences in axillary umbelliform cymes, small (1-5 cm), on a short peduncle (± 1 cm), spaced along the stems, each with 2-6 flowers. Flowers hermaphrodite, greenish-yellowish, pentamerous, minute (4-6 mm in diameter). Calyx cupuliform, greenish-whitish, pubescent, divided ± halfway in 5 small ovate-lanceolate lobes, ± acute, persistent in fruiting. Corolla with 5 petals open in the shape of a star, fused at the base, ovate-lanceolate, involute, with margins folded upwards, ± pubescent. Stamens 5, with very short filaments so that the anthers seem subsessile at first glance. Staminal corona, annular, succulent. Pollen usually released grouped in 2 subglobulose dense masses, joined by a tail or “translator” (a curious trait seen in all species of the family) specially designed to adhere to pollinating insects. Fruit a narrow cylindrical follicle, relatively large [(5)8-12 × 0.5-1 cm], green at first and then brownish, glabrous, dehiscent in 2 valves that release numerous seeds. Seeds ovoid (6-8 mm), compressed, glabrous but with a tuft of straight and long hairs (up to 3 cm), whitish.
Flowering:
In the region, flowering occurs generally after rainfall.
Fruiting:
As the flowering, it depends largely on the presence of rainfall and does not have any particular period; mature follicles can be seen in almost any time of year (as it happens with the flowers), but are more frequent in late summer. It is common to see plants bearing flowers and fruits at the same time.
Habitat:
On very diverse terrain, but basically in silty-sandy depressions, riverbeds, wadis and valley bottoms in desert areas.
Distribution:
Northern tropical deserts and savannahs, from western Africa (Mauritania and Senegal) to India. In North Africa it is a common species in the southern Sahara and rarer in the northern Sahara (in Morocco S of the Drâa, SE Algeria and SW Libya).
Conservation status:
Rare species but widely distributed. In the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species it is listed as Least Concern (LC) at global level (Oldfield, 2020). In the Livre Rouge de la flore vasculaire du Maroc (Fennane, 2021) it has been considered as Least Concern (LC).