Withania adpressa (Coss.) Batt.
Spa.: Oroval sahariano. Fre.: Withania du Sahara. Ara.: Uaruari, irremet, hjuju, aglim, irramt.
Evergreen shrub, hermaphrodite, up to 1.5(2) m in height, highly ramose, with tortuous stems and branches. Bark whitish, with stems and old branches somewhat fissured; smooth in young branches. Branchlets from greyish-green to white. Leaves (1-6 × 0.8-3 cm) from ovate to suborbicular or broadly lanceolate, obtuse, cuneate or rounded at the base, with entire margin, leaf blade sometimes flat, but generally undulate, coriaceous, glabrescent, greenish-whitish on the upper side and glaucous or whitish on the underside, sometimes whitish on both sides. Flowers solitary, geminate or rarely ternate, greenish-whitish. Calyx cup-shaped with 5 triangular teeth, slightly recurved backwards or not recurved. Corolla with wide tube, ending in 5 triangular lobes with tip recurved backwards. Stamens and pistil included. Fruit a globose berry 5-8 mm in diameter, completely enclosed by the persistent calyx, touching the fruit.
Flowering:
Almost throughout the year, especially after rainfall.
Fruiting:
Almost at any time of the year. In the same locality there can be flowers and mature fruits at the same time.
Habitat:
Rocky soils and especially in sandy-loamy depressions in rocky deserts or hamadas.
Distribution:
Endemic to North Africa (Morocco and Algeria). Lower areas of the eastern High Atlas, eastern Anti-Atlas, western Saharan Atlas and northern-western Sahara. It has been cited in the western Sahara in littoral and sublittoral areas, but according to Lebrun (1998) this species does not grow in this area.
Conservation status:
Rare but widely distributed species. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In Algeria it is included in the List of protected non cultivated flora (Executive Decree 12-03 on 4-Jan-2012).