Commiphora quadricincta Schweinf.
Ara.: Gafal. Tamahaq: Kâbizori.
Shrub or tree, dioecious, 3-5 m in height, with spiny branches. Stems with exudate of rubber or resins and brownish or greyish bark peeling off into strips. Leaves alternate, simple, glabrous, 1-2.5 × 1-2.5 cm, ovate or orbicular, entire, with rounded, obtuse or emarginate apex. Leaf petiole 0.5-1.5 cm. Flowers about 5 mm, grouped in glomeruli, imperfectly unisexual. Sepals about 1.5 mm, with triangular truncated teeth, 4(5) red petals about 4 mm, 8 stamens and bilocular ovary with 2 ovules in each locule and a short style. Stigma subcapitate, with 4 lobes slightly marked. Drupe 0.8-1 × 0.6-0.8 cm, broadly ovoid, apiculate, smooth, glabrous, reddish, with 3 longitudinal winged ribs and the remains of the persistent calyx at the base.
Flowering:
June to September.
Fruiting:
October to January.
Habitat:
Sandy plains and rocky hills.
Distribution:
Central and eastern Sahel, from the Air Massif (Niger) to the Red Sea. SE of Egypt, Sudan and the Arabian Peninsula.
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 Red List of vascular plants of Egypt (Flora Aegyptiaca Vol 1, 2000) it is listed as “Endangered”.