Seidlitzia rosmarinus Bunge ex Boiss.
Ara.: Ušnān, šenān, julman.
Suffruticose perennial plant that can reach up to 80 cm in height, glabrous, very ramose and usually with many branches arising from the ground. Branches green or yellowish-green, young branches whitish and lustrous. Leaves opposite, succulent, sessile, 5-35 × 1-3 mm, cylindrical but slightly tapered towards the base and with a rounded apex, with a tuft of short hairs at the axil, usually curved. Flowers hermaphrodite, solitary or in small axillary groups of 2-5 flowers, each with 2 bracts. Perianth with 5 obtuse parts, fused at the base, 5 exserted stamens and 5 ciliated-glandular staminoids, fused at the base to the base of staminal filaments forming a ring. Gynoecium with 2 stigmas. Fruit a utricle 8-11 mm in diameter, with a spoon-shaped perianth underneath the wings; the latter subequal, membranous, white-yellowish or pinkish.
Flowering:
July to August.
Fruiting:
No data for this region
Habitat:
Dry riverbeds in rocky substrate and saline soils.
Distribution:
Egypt, Arabian Peninsula and Persian Gulf to Afghanistan.
Observations:
Genus very similar to Salsola, from which it differs by leaves always opposite (although there may be some species with this characteristic in Salsola) and by the tuft of hairs on the leaf axil. It is an important plant for Bedouin communities, who use it in medicine, as food (eating their seeds) and to obtain barilla (for making soap).
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. In the Red List of vascular plants of Egypt (Flora Aegyptiaca Vol 1, 2000) it is listed as “Vulnerable”.