Helianthemum confertum Dunal
Fre.: Hélianthéme. Ara.: Al yarquik.
Evergreen subshrub, hermaphrodite, up to 1(1.5) m in height, erect, highly ramose, with stems and older branches clearly woody, bark brown. Young branchlets pubescent, brown-reddish, greenish-reddish or red. Leaves opposite, linear-lanceolate or oblanceolate, acute, attenuated at the base into a short petiole, with a slightly revolute margin, green matt on the upper side and greenish-whitish on the underside, covered with stellate hairs. Inflorescence in axillary or terminal spikes, with sessile flowers. Calyx with 5 sepals; 2 outer ovate-lanceolate, minute; 3 inner sepals much longer (5-8 mm), ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acute, pubescent, with stellate hairs on the entire surface and with long white hairs along the veins. Petals 5, obovate, yellow, similar in length to the sepals. Fruit a capsule shorter than the sepals, surrounded by the calyx that becomes bell-shaped when aged.
Flowering:
March to May.
Fruiting:
May to July.
Habitat:
Stony, sandy, desert and sub-desert soils. In the dune fields especially in the interdunary spaces.
Distribution:
Northern Sahara, reaching the Mediterranean area in SW Morocco (Essauira, central Anti-Atlas. To the W it reaches up to western Libya. Particularly frequent in terrains close to the Grand Erg Oriental and even within it.
Observations:
In the SW of Morocco, the subsp. australe Maire has been cited, frequent in the dunes of Essauira. It differs mainly by its leaves, green on the upper side, not greenish-whitish.
Conservation status:
A fairly rare species, but widely distributed. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In Tunisia it is included 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).