Maerua oblongifolia (Forssk.) A. Rich.
Capparis oblongifolia Forssk., C. mithridatica Forssk., Niebuhria oblongifolia (Forssk.) DC., M. virgata Gilg, M. scebelensis Chiov.
Ara.: Morgaan, mordjan, abu tamra, alag, ass’aib, irg el mali aba, sirh, surreh (last 6 in Sudan).
Shrub that frequently can behave as a liana climbing over other plants, 1-3 m in height. Rootstock thick, woody. Branches slender, sometimes hanging, without spines, greyish, glabrous or with rigid hairs. Leaves alternate, thick, rigid, oblong to ovate-oblong, 4.5-7 × 0.5-1.5 cm, glabrous, glaucous or sparsely pubescent, obtuse or acute, with a rounded or cuneate base and petiole 0 5-1 cm. Flowers showy, very fragrant, in corymbose racemes, terminal or axillary. Flowers up to 2.5 cm with pedicels of more than 1 cm. Sepals 4, 0.8-1 cm, green, helmet-shaped on the upper part and white margins. Petals 4, whitish or yellowish-greenish. Stamens numerous, 20-40, surrounding a glabrous gynophore 1.5-2 cm. Fruit cylindrical, torulose and verrucous, glabrous, 2-10 × 1.7-3 cm. Seeds usually 4, red at maturity, edible.
Flowering:
February to March.
Fruiting:
March to May.
Habitat:
On very diverse terrains in desert (mainly in floodplains) and subdesert areas.
Distribution:
Northern Saharan Africa and Arabian Peninsula. In North Africa from Mauritania, through the southern Sahara to Sudan, towards the N it reaches Egypt. Also cited in Libya.
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 updated red list of Egypt (Shaltout & Bedair, 2023) it has been considered as Least Concern (LC).
