Rhamnus disperma Ehrenb. ex Boiss.
Ara.: Areen, za’arur, orontol.
Shrub, dioecious or polygamous, 0.5-1.5 m in height. Stems with grey-ashen bark, intricately branched in spiny branchlets. Leaves deciduous, from narrowly spatulate to obovate-cuneate, often minutely mucronate, usually entire, velvety at first, then glabrous, 0.5-1.2 × 0.2-0.4 cm, rounded apex, with venation slightly visible on the underside. Petiole 1-4 mm, hairy. Flowers tetramerous, about 2 mm, in racemes on short shoots; pedicels 2-4 mm, capillary. Sepals 4, about 2 mm, yellowish, deflexed, triangular-ovate. Petals minute, much shorter than the sepals, linear, reddish-yellow. Drupe 3-4 mm, subglobose, bilobed, chestnut-yellowish, glabrous. Seeds 2.5-3 mm, oblong, glabrous, yellowish.
Flowering:
March to May.
Fruiting:
June to September.
Habitat:
In rocky areas or between rocks in desert mountains.
Distribution:
Medium and high mountains from NE Egypt to Lebanon. In Egypt in the NE mountains (southern part of the Galala Massif and in the Sinai Peninsula, around St. Catherine).
Observations:
Often associated with Pistacia atlantica Desf.
Conservation status:
Rare species and with a small distributed area. In Egypt it is a particularly rare 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 “Rare”.