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Henophyton zigarrhenum (Maire) Gómez Campo

Oudneya zygarrhena Maire, H. deserti subsp.  zigarrhenum (Maire) Greuter & Burdet

Fre.: Oudneya marocaine d’Outat el Hadj.   Ara.: hennet el bel, hennet el djmel, eulga, al alka.   Tam.: Timarugt, alleg unmu.

Shrub or shrub promptly deciduous, hermaphrodite, erect, up to 40(60) cm in high, branching from the base. Bark white or whitish-greyish on old trunk and branches, green on young branchlets. Leaves alternate, linear, sessile, entire, often fleshy and spatulate, rapidly caducous and replaced by numerous linear foliar fascicles of 10-25 x 1.5-2 mm, axillary, of an intense green color that contrasts with the very white branches. Inflorescence in ± corymbiform racemes, sparse, with 3-25 flowers, on a 4-8 mm long peduncle. Calyx tubular with 4 sepals, 8 mm long, oblong, ± acute, first green and greenish-brown in full bloom, fused in its entirety except at the apex. Flowers with a violet to purple corolla, according to Maire when he described it, but the specimens we have seen in the field present it white. Corolla large, with 4 petals 15-16 mm long, with the half linear-oblong parts included in the calyx, and its terminal part suborbicular. Stamens 6, different, the 3 central exerted, the 3 lateral about 2 mm shorter and almost inserted. Filaments of the central stamens half-welded (in H. deserti they are free). The fruit is a linear silique (2.5-5.5 × 0.5-0.6 cm) upright, linear-oblong, with an acute apex (ending in a small obovate point); it usually contains between 3 and 12 seeds with a wide white wing.

Flowering:

March-May.

 

Fruiting:

Between one and two months after flowering.

Habitat:

Terrenos rocosos, pedregosos y a veces limoso-arenosos, en Rocky, stony and sometimes silty-sandy soils, on plains or plateaus, in a steppe or sub-desertic environment.

Distribution:

Eastern Morocco. Upper Muluya steppes (around Outat el Hadj), in heavily grazed areas, where it appears to be endemic.

Conservation status:

Rare species of which little is known. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Henophyton zygarrhenum. 1. Annie Garcin. Teline
Henophyton zygarrhenum. General aspect (heavily overgrazed) and habitat in the upper Muluya steppes (Morocco). Annie Garcin. Teline.
Henophyton zygarrhenum. 2. Annie Garcin. Teline
Henophyton zygarrhenum. General aspect (very overgrazed) showing stems, leaves and flowers. Annie Garcin. Teline.
Henophyton zygarrhenum. 3. Annie Garcin. Teline
Henophyton zygarrhenum. Detail of leaves and flower. Annie Garcin. Teline.
Henophyton zygarrhenum. 4. Annie Garcin. Teline
Henophyton zygarrhenum. Detail of leaves and fruit (siliqua). Annie Garcin. Teline.
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