Noaea mucronata (Forssk.) Asch. & Schweinf.
Salsola mucronata Forssk.
Eng.: Thorny saltwort. Ara.: Zireg, aär, sebrej, chebrek, chobraj, shoak el-hanash, athir, tssir.
Subshrub, spiny, evergreen, hermaphrodite, up to 75 cm in height, very ramose. Stems straight, tortuous, with brownish-grey bark. Branches extended-erect, often intricate, forming ± dense impenetrable thickets in areas across its range that are more humid. Branchlets with strong woody spines, both either alternate along the branchlet or at its apex. Leaves (3-20 × 0.2-0.6 mm), alternate, sessile, narrowly ovate to linear, acute and mucronate, glabrescent, sparse and small at the end of the branchlets, more abundant and larger towards the inside of the shrub. Flowers usually solitary, born scattered along the branchlets and spines. Another special feature of this species are its peculiar flowers, with anthers that can have a strong purple colour. Fruit an achene, wrapped by 5 perianth parts with wings on the dorsal side; wing striated, white-pinkish to light brown.
Flowering:
In summer.
Fruiting:
In autumn.
Habitat:
In forests clearings and in steppes of semiarid soils.
Distribution:
From North Africa to Central Asia. In the study area, it presents a disjunct Distribution. To the W, in the steppic areas of Algeria and Morocco, reaching to the S up to the Saharan Atlas and towards the N up to the Mediterranean, through the Muluya depression. To the E, in the coastal and subcoastal areas of NE Libya and Egypt (including the Sinai Peninsula).
Conservation status:
It is a rare species but in principle it is not considered threatened. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.