Limoniastrum guyonianum Durieu ex Boiss.
Spa.: Salado sahariano. Fre.: Statice de Guyon, faux-limonium de Guyon. Ara.: Zeïta, zita, muss. Tam.: Tafufela, tafumfala.
Evergreen shrub, hermaphrodite, up to 1.5 m in height, but usually does not exceed 1 m. Very ramose, irregular in size, branches first upright and then somewhat pendulous. Stems and branches brown-green but, as in L. monopetalum, it has a whitish-ash appearance due to being largely covered by calcareous granulations. Leaves (30-60 × 1-4 mm) narrowly linear, subcylindrical, semirigid or slightly wavy, fleshy, sessile, forming a kind of sheath surrounding the stem at the base. Inflorescence ramose, leafless, with zigzag branching. Calyx tubular, not angular, about 7 mm, with 5 sharp short teeth, reddish; inside a bract that covers most of the calyx except for the top. Corolla (10-20 mm in diameter) bright pink in colour, violet or purple, petals fused at the lower half, free parts with 5 expanded lobes. Stamens 5, very showy due to the yellow anthers, in the centre of the flower. Fruit minute, oval, membranous, inside the persistent calyx.
Flowering:
May to October.
Fruiting:
July to December.
Habitat:
Silty-sandy terrains ± saline, in desert areas.
Distribution:
Endemic to North Africa. Northern Sahara. Traditionally only known from Algeria and Tunisia, but nowadays it is known from eastern Morocco (Gareb plain) to Egypt.
Observations:
A further 2 North African species, traditionally included in Limoniastrum, are now under the genus Ceratolimon M.B.Crespo & Lledó. They are small shrubs that do not usually exceed 0.5 m in height. C. weygandiorum (Maire & Wilczek) M.B.Crespo & Lledó (L. weygandiorum Maire & Wilczek), with slightly fleshy leaves, obovate, lobulate, is endemic to the coastal rocky cliffs of the Draa region. C. feei M.B.Crespo & Lledó [L. feei (Girard) Batt.], in Arabic “Ouden el-hmar”, has entire lanceolate leaves, fleshier, and it is endemic to the NW continental Sahara (Morocco and Algeria).
Conservation status:
Rare species but it is not threatened. Currently, it have not been assessed at a global level on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In the updated red list of Egypt (Shaltout & Bedair, 2023) it has been considered as Vulnerable (VU).
