Rhamnus myrtifolia WilIk.
Rh. alaternus subsp. myrtifolia (WilIk.) Maire
Spa.: Aladierno rastrero. Fre.: Nerprun alaterne rampant. Ara.: Qaced, ajrurj, selluf, settar.
Creeping subshrub, evergreen, dioecious, generally rupicolous, usually not exceeding 0.4 m in height but can reach up to 1.5 m in good forest soils. Stems relatively thick and short, tortuous, usually growing on rocks, with brown-greyish bark on older and thicker parts, and whitish-greyish, silvery bark on young woody branches. Leaves usually small (8-15 mm long), oval-orbicular or elliptic, ending in an acute or subacute tip, entire or dentate, coriaceous, glabrous, intense green on the upper side and slightly lighter on the underside. Flowers solitary or in sparse racemes of 2-3 flowers, axillary. Calyx with 5 triangular-lanceolate sepals, greenish-yellowish. Fruit a small drupe (3-5 mm in diameter), subglobose. Seeds 2-4.
Flowering:
February to May.
Fruiting:
August to November.
Habitat:
This is a purely rupicolous subshrub. On rocky outcrops of medium and high mountains, up to 2,800 m above sea level. In semiarid to humid bioclimate, on mesomediterranean and supramediterranean floors.
Distribution:
Rare species but widely distributed on limestone mountains of Andalusia and North Africa. Throughout the latter, it grows scattered from the High Atlas and the Saharan Atlas in the S, up to the Mediterranean in the N. Towards the E it reaches the Tunisian Dorsal.
Observations:
Despite the significant differences in plant size and leaves, some authors recognise it only as a stumpy subspecies of Rh. alaternus. According to the review in Flora iberica, 2 subspecies are differentiated, Rh. myrtifolia subsp. myrtifolia and Rh. myrtifolia subsp. iranzoi Rivas Mart. & J.M.Pizarro, both present in North Africa.
Conservation status:
Common and widely distributed species, not considered threatened. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.