Nucularia perrinii Batt.
Ara.: Ascaf. Tamahaq: Tassak.
Evergreen subshrub, hermaphrodite, 0.3-0.7 m in height, very ramose, not too dense, similar to Traganum nudatum, from which it is easily distinguished by its opposite leaves and branches. Trunk with greyish bark. Branches white, glabrous, up to 1 cm in diameter. Leaves (6-12 × 2-4 mm) opposite, sessile, linear to oblong, ± triangular in cross section, with obtuse angles, finishing in a ± obtuse tip and then clearly apiculate. Lanate hairs on the leaf axil. Flowers usually in an axillary brachyblast, born opposite, arranged in 2 by 2 on to the tip of the flowering branches. Each pair of flowers has at its base 2 relatively large foliar bracts, largely triangular. Each flower has 2 bracteoles similar to the bracts but smaller. Perianth with 5 membranous winged parts. Stamens 5. Fruit perianth highly characteristic due to being covered by a hardened shell, formed by the bracteole regrowth and lignification, creating altogether a kind of false fruit up to 2 cm. Fruit an achene with a whitish and smooth seed.
Flowering:
Usually after the rains.
Fruiting:
Approximately 1 month after Flowering.
Habitat:
Sandy and silty-rocky terrains in desert areas.
Distribution:
Endemic to North Africa: western and central Sahara; it can become particularly frequent in the rocky areas throughout the Tassili N’Ajjer and in the Ahaggar mountains. Towards the E it reaches central-western Libya
Conservation status:
It is a common species and in principle it is not considered threatened. 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 Least Concern (LC).