Thymelaea hirsuta (L.) Endl.
Passerina hirsuta L.
Eng.: Yitran, shaggy sparrow-wort, spur flax. Spa.: Boalaga, bufalaga marina. Fre.: Passerine hirsute. Ara.: Agaras, metenan, metnan, mitnaan, mithnaan, ftiticha.
Shrub up to 150 cm in height (rarely taller), with complex sexual expression (it presents multiple sex combinations, even within individuals and over time). Older stems glabrescent or ± tomentose, without leaves. Young stems ± pendulous at the apex, covered by a dense white tomentum that is composed solely of short and ± crisped hairs. Leaves closely imbricated at the end of the young stems, somewhat less imbricated towards the base of the stems, but always ± appressed; 2-8 × 1.5-5 mm, from orbicular-ovate to ovate-lanceolate, incurved, sessile, thick, coriaceous, persistent, with involute margins, adaxial surface covered by a dense white tomentum, and glabrous and green on the abaxial surface. Inflorescences in glomeruli, with 2-12 flowers, ebracteate, at end of short branches. Flowers unisexual and hermaphrodite, 3-5 mm, infundibuliform, yellow; hypanthium tomentose; sepals 1-1.5 mm, ovate, obtuse, the overlapping pair of sepals with a partial indumentum on their inner face. Anthers orange. Style apical. Fruit nuciform, usually free from the hypanthium at maturity, with pericarp membranous and glabrous or variable hairiness. Seeds 1.6-2.6 × 1-1.5 mm, conical-ovoid, with straight apex and chalaza ± flat, without an aril.
Flowering:
October to June.
Fruiting:
December to July.
Habitat:
Coastal and inland areas, on sandy, rocky, and sometimes slightly salty terrains, from almost sea level to about 900 m. In semiarid to subhumid bioclimate, on thermomediterranean and lower mesomediterranean belts.
Distribution:
Mediterranean region. It is not a common species but, in North Africa, it may become locally abundant, especially in littoral areas. It is present in coastal regions of all North African countries (it has not been found in Mauritania). In Egypt it also grows in the Sinai Peninsula. In Morocco, towards the S it reaches the western Anti-Atlas, where it reaches its highest altitude range known in North Africa. In Algeria and Egypt it has been cited further south, up to the Saharan Atlas and Jebel El Uweinat, respectively, but we believe its presence in these locations is at least doubtful.
Conservation status:
Locally common and widely distributed species. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.