Periploca aphylla Decne.
Ara. (Egypt): Mayouk.
Erect shrub, retamoid, almost leafless. Leaves scarce and only on young stems; some are bractiform, acicular and others elliptic to ovate, narrow (3-12 × 1-5 mm), coriaceous, with acute or acuminate apex, lateral veins not visible. Inflorescence compact, with 3-15 flowers, although usually pauciflorous. Corolla lobes (5-6 × 2.5-3 mm) widely opened, linear-ovate, fleshy, obtuse apex; adaxial margin brown-yellowish, with violet and fleshy centre; petals also with a white spot narrowly elliptical towards the centre of the lobe. Corona lobes with violet central segment, 3-4 mm long, glabrous. Follicles (5)6-12(15) × 0.4-0.6 cm, horizontal, linear-ovoid.
Flowering:
January to May.
Fruiting:
March to July.
Habitat:
Rocky and arid coastal areas.
Distribution:
Central and western Asia, from the Red Sea to India. In Egypt, it grows in the Sinai Peninsula and in the SE region, near the Red Sea, with its area extending towards the S, along the mountainous coastal regions of Sudan.
Observations:
Two subspecies have been proposed. The P. aphylla subsp. aphylla, with subsessile flowers in dense and compact cymes, with short (2-5 mm) and sharp peduncles (or with 1-2 pairs of small deciduous and basal leaves); leaves, peduncles and follicles slightly pubescent. It is distributed throughout SW Asia, from India to the Sinai Peninsula. P. aphylla subsp. laxiflora (Bornm.) Browicz, with pedicelate flowers (3-8 mm) inflorescences in lax cymes; with long peduncles (2.2 cm) and foliose (with distant pairs of leaves); leaves, peduncles and follicles glabrous. It is distributed in Palestine, Iran, eastern-southern portion of the Arabian peninsula and reaches Africa in the NE of Sudan and SE of Egypt (Gebel Elba).
Conservation status:
Rare but widely distributed species. In the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species it is listed as Least Concern (LC) at global level (Oldfield, 2020). In the updated red list of Egypt (Shaltout & Bedair, 2023) the subsp. aphylla has been considered as Critically Endangered (CR) and the subsp. laxiflora as Vulnerable (VU).
