Traganum nudatum Delille
T. acuminatum Maire & Weiller
Fre.: Tragan dénudé. Ara.: Damraan, dhamrane, dumran, hamd, suid hachmar, bagil, tasra, lusserf. Tam.: Tirehit, terahit, tarhit, askaf, tidja, tazra.
Evergreen subshrub, hermaphrodite, 0.3-0.7 m in height, very ramose, but not dense. Stems erect, with greyish bark. Branches straggling or erect, white, older branches glabrous and branches of the current year pubescent. Branchlets slender (1-2.5 mm in diameter). It is easily differentiated from the following species by the few leaves that grow on its branchlets. Leaves alternate, sessile, fleshy, obtuse and apiculate, very small, usually triangular, barely exceeding the length of the lanate hairs of the axil (in var. obtusatum Maire & Weiller and var. acuminatum Maire & Weiller) or elongated clearly exceeding these hairs, but always under 8 mm (var. microphyllum Maire). Flowers solitary in leaf axil, between the lanate hairs. Perianth parts 5, wingless at maturity. Stamens 5. Bracteoles that surround the fruit perianth are very narrow, not fully enclosing it and not concrescent with it at its base. Fruit an achene arranged horizontally, with a greyish-yellow smooth seed.
Flowering:
Dependant on the rains.
Fruiting:
Just one month after flowering.
Habitat:
Desert terrains, regs (stony deserts), stony plains, especially in depressions, where the edaphic moisture is higher.
Distribution:
Saharo-Arabian. In North Africa widely distributed across the central and northern Sahara, Saharan Atlas, the eastern Moroccan plateaus and, through the Muluya depression, it reaches to the north the semi-arid peneplains of Guercif and Taurirt.
Conservation status:
It is a common species and in principle it is not considered threatened. 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). In the updated red list of Egypt (Shaltout & Bedair, 2023) it has also been considered as Least Concern (LC).
