Zygophyllum dumosum Boiss.
Tetraena dumosa (Boiss.) Beier & Thulin
Spa.: Morsana. Ara.: Äggaya, bu griba, tartir, haaka, khoressa, khreysa, ensal, qillam, r’ardem. Tam.: Tayerta, tazluzt, haggaïa, tirta, moïlhe.
Subshrub, evergreen, hermaphrodite, with an appressed and canescent indumentum, 30-80 cm and intricate. Leaves bifoliolate, with stipules connate at the base, triangular, with persistent petioles, same length or longer than the leaflets. Leaflets 0.5-1 cm, deciduous, fleshy, oblong-cylindrical and hairy. Flowers axillary, solitary, with pedicels 0.5-1 cm that elongate at Fruiting. Sepals (6-8 mm) oblong ovate, with scarious margins and petals (1.2-1.6 cm) white and spatulate. Filaments 6-8 mm with scales ovate-orbicular, obtuse and dentate at the apex. Fruit a schizocarp (0.8-1 cm), first erect and subsequently deflexed, with 5 very showy wings, wider than the capsule. Seeds (3-3.5 × 2 cm), rhomboid and brown.
Flowering:
March to April
Fruiting:
No data for this region
Habitat:
In desert environments, with an annual evaporation exceeding 2,500 mm, in loess plains and rocky slopes, on calcareous greyish soils, shallow and saline with a fine texture.
Distribution:
Deserts of Palestine, Israel, Jordan and NO of Egypt. It becomes very abundant across the deserts of Negev and the Sinai Peninsula, where it occupies large areas and forms highly characteristic plant communities.
Conservation status:
A relatively common species but of a restricted distributed. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In the updated red list of Egypt (Shaltout & Bedair, 2023) it has been considered as Vulnerable (VU).
