Ochradenus baccatus Delile
Eng.: Taily weed. Ara.: Qardi, qordi, qurdi, gurdi.
Shrub, spiny, glabrous, glaucous green in colour, with photosynthetic stems, rigid branches, and generally devoid of leaves; it can become large in volume and up to about 3 m in height. Leaves linear (10-50 × 1.5-3 mm), entire, sessile, glabrous, promptly deciduous in extremely arid environments. Flowers yellowish, bisexual or hermaphrodite, very small (5-10 mm in diameter), with short pedicels 1-2 mm and bracts 2-3 mm, usually caducous. Sepals 5, sometimes 6, ovate, 1-1.5 mm long. Petals (0)2-3, less than 1 mm long, subulate, often caducous, 3 carpels. Stamens 10-18, variable in length, with anthers 2 mm and usually caducous. Flowers in long racemes 5-15 cm long, which can sometimes reach up to 30 cm. Fruit a globose capsule, slightly fleshy, white or yellowish, barrel-shaped and with the appearance of a berry, about 4-5 mm in diameter; it is edible and has a sweet taste. Seeds just a few, reniform, 1.5mm, brown, finely papillose.
Flowering:
January to May.
Fruiting:
Staggered from February to June.
Habitat:
Silty-sandy depressions on desert terrains. It is a ruderal species that tolerates habitat disturbances.
Distribution:
Western Asia and NE Africa, reaching through the W up to W of Libya (Jebel Abu Toda —150 km SSW of Sirte—). Egypt (throughout the entire territory, including the Sinai Peninsula), Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia. Towards the E it reaches Pakistan.
Conservation status:
Rare (though it becomes locally abundant) 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).
