Trichodesma calcaratum Coss.
Boraginella calcarata (Coss.) Kuntze, T. calcaratum var. homotrichum Guinet & Sauvage
Ara.: Uachchem, al harricha, hamra, harcha. Tam.: Taynasset, tainast.
Chamaephyte that reaches 0.8(1) m in height, with a woody base, covered with short, thick, rigid, slender hairs, upright, like small prickles in all parts (stem, branches and leaves); arising from platelets that are white on the leaves, reddish on the stems, hardened, usually circular, less than 1.5 mm in diameter. Lower leaves petiolate, linear-lanceolate with 2 different types of hairs; upper leaves sessile. Inflorescences in short racemes, terminal and axillary, narrowly paniculate; with lanceolate bracts; pedicels decumbent and elongated during fruiting. Calyx with 5 parts, densely hairy, with indumentum. Hairs adpressed-retrose, at least in the calyx. Corolla blue-purple, turning yellowish near the corolla tube; tube yellow-purple; corolla lobes reflexed in anthesis. Nutlets 4-5 mm long.
Flowering:
July and August.
Fruiting:
In September.
Habitat:
Scree, rocks, plains and low mountains.
Distribution:
Endemic to North Africa, where ti is found in the NW Sahara, reaching towards the N to the Sus, the Anti-Atlas and the High Atlas.
Observations:
The name “harcha” is also commonly used to describe other species of the same family such as Echium horridum, which despite having a very different flower, it shares similarities such as looking rough, with spiny hairs and unpleasant to touch.
Conservation status:
Rare species, with a small distribution area. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In the Livre Rouge de la flore vasculaire du Maroc (Fennane, 2021) it has been considered as Least Concern (LC).