Withania obtusifolia Täckh.
Spa.: Oroval. Fre.: Withania. Ara.: Uaruari, irremet, hjuju, aglim, irramt, artwaateib (Egypt).
Evergreen shrub, hermaphrodite, up to 1.5(2) m in height, with stems and branches densely white-tomentose, with branched and applied hairs. Leaves alternate, with petioles, up to 10 × 5 cm, leaf blade oblong-elliptic or ovate-oblong, obtuse, ± truncated or cuneate at the base and with clearly marked veins on the underside, ± glabrescent on the upper side, white-tomentose on the underside, at least along the veins. Flowers solitary or in groups of 2-4 on the axils of leaves, shortly pedicellate. Calyx urceolate; during flowering 4-5 mm and with short teeth; during fruiting up to 15 mm, with teeth 4-5 mm and completely covering the fruit. Corolla c. 7 mm, longer than the calyx, campanulate, yellow-greenish. Fruit a berry, c. 7 mm, bright, orange-red or black.
Flowering:
April to July.
Fruiting:
June to September. There can be flowers and mature fruits at the same time.
Habitat:
On highly diverse terrain but ± rocky-stony, in arid and desert areas.
Distribution:
Endemic to the SE Mediterranean, from Egypt to Jordan, including the Sinai Peninsula. Citations of this species in India appear to be erroneous. In North Africa it grows in littoral and sublittoral regions of the Red Sea in SE Egypt. The type of the species is from Jebel Elba.
Observations:
According to some authors this species is so similar to W. somnifera that a differentiation at a specific level is not appropriate.
Conservation status:
Rare but widely distributed species. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In the Red List of vascular plants of Egypt (Flora Aegyptiaca Vol 1, 2000) it is listed as “Vulnerable”.