Ballota L.
Genus composed of about 30 species, with a dozen taxa (including species and subspecies) in North Africa. They are mainly herbaceous plants that sometimes have stems with a woody base, but cannot be considered as shrubs. They are distributed mainly through the Mediterranean area.The biggest species is B. hirsuta.
Another similar species which has been recently moved onto a different genus is Maropsis deserti (de Noé) Pomel [B. deserti (de Noé) Jury, Rejdali & A.J.K.Griffiths, Marrubium deserti (de Noé) Coss.] (Tamahaq: Aberkekou, l’aherer, telheret), smaller and more fragile, whitish in overall appearance, calyx with 5 teeth and corolla with lobes opened in the shape of a star, purple; found throughout the northern Sahara, except for the easternmost area.
Other similar labiate species but with stems with appressed-cottony hairs and stamens included within the corolla tube, belong to the genus Marrubium L. Genus composed in North Africa by 14 species distributed mainly in the Mediterranean region, of which 8 are endemic to Morocco and Tunisia. These are plants is up to 50(80) cm in height with stems only slightly lignified in the lower half. Species with larger size, with stems up to 80 cm, are M. vulgare L. (Ara. Egypt: Roubiya), with a calyx divided into 10 teeth and white corolla, and M. supinum L., with a calyx with 5 teeth and pinkish corolla. Both species are typical of the Mediterranean region and often behave as ruderal; the former is widely distributed throughout the Mediterranean countries, whilst the latter has an Iberian-African distribution.
Fairly common and widespread species. Currently, they have not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In Algeria, M. supinum is included in the List of protected non cultivated flora (Executive Decree 12-03 on 4-Jan-2012). In Tunisia M. deserti is included as Marrubium deserti, in its List of native species that are rare and threatened with extinction (Order of the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, 19-July-2006).
Updated by: B. Valdés.