Sida ovata Forssk.
S. grewioides Guill. & Perr., S. aurescens Ulbr., S. flexuosa Burtt Davy.
Eng.: Spreading fanpetals. Tamahaq: Amâgâr-inâtanmoess.
Erect or decumbent shrub, up to 1.2 m in height, with stellate pubescence. Stems highly branched. Leaf blade broadly ovate to ± orbicular, dentate-crenate margin, rounded base, apex ± truncated, pubescent on both sides. Petiole 0.2-1.2 cm. Stipules 3-6 mm, linear. Flowers axillary, solitary or in pairs; pedicel 5-7 mm, articulated about halfway. Calyx 5-6 mm, lobe ovate-triangular, acuminate. Petals 7-8 mm, orange-yellow. Fruit 7-8 mm, globose depressed; mericarps 7-9 mm, rugose, glabrous, aristate, reticulated towards the margin. Seeds 1.5-2 mm long, reniform, longitudinally grooved on the dorsal surface, brown, ± dark.
Flowering:
After rainfall, normally between winter and summer in western Sahara and in autumn-winter towards the coast of the Red Sea.
Fruiting:
From winter to summer.
Habitat:
Stony terrain, wasteland.
Distribution:
Tropical Africa, Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, India. In North Africa it is found in the SE of Egypt and Sudan.
Observations:
Another small shrub or perennial woody herbaceous plant, 30-80 cm in height and pubescent, is Sida rhombifolia L. (Tamahaq: faskara saywô), with erect or ascending stems. Leaf blade 1-4 × 0.5-1 cm, elliptical, with crenate-dentate margin, cuneate base, acute apex; dark green on the upper side, light green on the underside. Petiole 2-4 mm. Stipules 2-3 mm, filiform. Flowers axillary, solitary or in racemes of few flowers; pedicel 2-5 mm. Sepals c. 5 mm, lobes triangular, acute. Petals 7-8 mm, light yellow. Fruit with 8-10 mericarps; mericarp 3 mm, semicircular, with 2 edges 0.5 mm. Species typical of areas altered by human activity (ditches, wasteland, grazed areas). It is found in the Sinai Peninsula, tropical Africa, Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, India. It flowers after rainfall, usually in the winter.
Conservation status:
S. ovata and S. rhombifolia are common and widely distributed species. Currently, they have not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.