Solenostemma arghel (Delile) Hayne
Solenostemma oleifolium (Nectoux) Bullock & E.A. Bruce, Cynanchum arghel Delile
Ara.: Ardjel, hargal, hargal bahari (last 2 in Egypt). Tamahaq: Crelchchem, khallachem, zellachem, zellechem, arellachem, aghallachem, aeghalashaen, ghâllêsshoem. Tubu: Baki.
Subshrub, evergreen, hermaphrodite, glabrous, up to 0.6 (1) m in height, highly branched from the base. Roots and base of the older stems woody, branches generally herbaceous. Leaves (1.5-4 × 0.5-1.1 cm) ovate-lanceolate, entire, green, slightly lighter on the underside, subsessile and slightly fleshy. Inflorescences axillary, from the main peduncle arise, towards the end, several dense cymes of white flowers. Calyx green, 5-lobed, with lobes opened in the shape of a star, lanceolate, longer than the tube. Corolla (6-8 mm) white, 5-lobed, with lobes oblong-linear, obtuse; on the corolla there is a cup-shaped corona, with 5 rounded lobes surrounding the base of the gynostegium (longly stipitate). Stigma clearly visible, with 5 branches. Fruit a solitary follicle (4-5 × 2-2.5 cm), ovoid, smooth. Seeds (5-6 × 2-3 mm) ovoid, attenuate at the apex, brown and with a tuft of hairs (2-2.5 cm).
Flowering:
Information not available.
Fruiting:
Information not available.
Habitat:
Sandy and stony wadis.
Distribution:
North Africa and Middle East (Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Chad, Niger, Sudan, Egypt, Palestine, Arabia); with an optimal centre of distribution in the central regions (frequent in the Tassili n’Ajjer, less common in the Ahaggar ) and the eastern and southern Sahara. Towards the N it reaches the Tademaït Plateaux (Algeria) and the Gulf of Suez (Egypt).
Conservation status:
Rare species but widely distributed. 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 Endangered (EN).
