Leucas inflata Benth.
Shrub, hermaphrodite, up to 1(1.5) m in height, white-cottony, with stems profusely branched at the base. Leaves opposite, (0.8)1.2(4) × 1-1.8 cm, from broadly ovate to suborbicular, grey-tomentose, with crenate apex and subcordate base; lower leaves shortly petiolate; leaves from inflorescence sessile. Inflorescence in spikes of verticillasters, with upper verticillasters close together; verticillasters with 3-10 flowers and with subulate bracteoles 1-4(7) mm. Calyx 5-6 mm, white-tomentose, with 10 veins and teeth 1-1.5 mm, triangular-lanceolate, acuminate, becoming accrescent up to c. 8 mm and oblongish or subglobose and contracted at the apex in fruiting, enclosing the fruits. Corolla 10-15 mm, white, hairy, bilabiate, with upper lip straight, concave, and lower lip trilobed. Androecium with 4 didynamous stamens, included in the upper lip of the corolla. Nutlets c. 2 × 1.5 mm, obovoid, with sessile glands and very short hairs.
Flowering:
February to May.
Fruiting:
March to June.
Habitat:
Wadis in stony desert areas, between 200-800 m above sea level.
Distribution:
Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia. Within the study area, it is very rare in the E of Egypt, including the Sinai Peninsula, where it seems to have disappeared, and in NE Sudan.
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 the Red List of vascular plants of Egypt (Flora Aegyptiaca Vol 1, 2000) it is listed as “Extinct”.
