Paliurus spina-christi Mill.
Eng.: Christ’s thorn, Jerusalem thorn, garland thorn. Spa.: Espino de Cristo, espino santo. Fre.: Paliure, paliure austral, épine du Christ.
Shrub or small tree, 2-3(5) m, deciduous. Branches somewhat pendulous, pubescent when young (uniform indumentum of uniseriate hairs, whitish to brownish). Leaves with leaf blade limbo 20-40 × 14-30 mm, puberulous (hairs on the veins), glabrescent, green on the upper side, paler on the underside; petiole 4-10 mm, puberulous, glabrescent; stipules 2, transformed into spines, the longest ± straight; the other curved, persistent. Bracts 0.6-1.1(1.5) mm, hairy or glabrous, usually with glandulous margin, brown, promptly caducous. Flowers pentamerous (rarely hexamerous). Receptacle patelliform, glabrous; pedicel accrescent when fruiting (up to 12 mm). Sepals (1.4)1.5-1.8(2) × (1)1.2-1.5(1.7) mm, glabrous, yellow-greenish. Petals 1-1.6 × 0.6-1.1(1.3) mm, white-yellowish. Fruit (17)19-26(30) mm in diameter (including the wing), with wing inserted in the middle, wide, entire to irregularly crenulate, glabrous.
Flowering:
April to July.
Fruiting:
May to September.
Habitat:
Forest edges and clearings, hedgerows, and roadsides.
Distribution:
European-Asian; seems native to Algeria (Algiers, Miliana, etc.) and introduced in Tunisia and Libya.
Conservation status:
Rare but widely distributed species, not considered threatened. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.