Hibiscus micranthus L.f.
Bombyx micranthus (L.f.) I. Riedl, H. gossypinus DC., Urena ovalifolia Forssk.
Eng.: Tiny flower hibiscus. Ara. (Egypt): Khasiet rashed. Tamahaq: Terakat, ejirimawalen (Aïr), tarakat ajir, aenmaghad.
Shrub 0.5-1.2 m in height. Trunk rigid, branched, erect or ascending. Stems with short, stellate hairs. Leaf blade 1-3.5 × 1-3 cm, variable in size and shape, generally ovate to lanceolate, not divided, serrate-dentate, with rounded or truncated base, with acute apex. Petiole 0.2-1.2 cm. Stipules 2.4 mm, subulate. Flowers 1.2-1.5 cm in diameter, axillary, solitary; pedicel 0.5-4.5 cm, accrescent in fruit. Epicalyx parts 6-8 × 2-4 mm, filiform. Calyx 3-4 mm, triangular-lanceolate, acute lobes. Petals 5-6 mm, pale pink, with stellate hairs on the outside. Staminal tube 4-5 mm. Fruit in capsule 0.8-1 cm, globose-ovoid. Seeds 2 × 1 mm, numerous, reniform, densely covered with long, cottony hair.
Flowering:
After rainfall, normally between winter and summer in western Sahara and in autumn-winter towards the coast of the Red Sea.
Fruiting:
From winter to summer.
Habitat:
Open forests, savannahs and thickets, in coastal areas and further inland; rocky watercourses, ruderal; on numerous types of soil (alluvial, sandy, etc.). From sea level to 1,000 m in altitude.
Distribution:
Dry areas of tropical and subtropical Africa, Arabian Peninsula, reaching in the E to India. In North Africa it grows in the southern and central areas of the Sahara, reaching in the N to the SW of Morocco and Egypt.
Observations:
Populations in the S of Morocco, probably due to their long isolation from those in the rest of Africa, have been differentiated as var. lepineyi Sauvage, characterised by their peduncle, longer than the petiole of the substending leaf and, sometimes, even longer than the entire leaf.
Conservation status:
Fairly rare species but widely distributed. 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 Critically Endangered (CR). In the updated red list of Egypt (Shaltout & Bedair, 2023) it has been considered as Endangered (EN).
