Tetraena coccinea L
Tetraena coccinea (L) Beier & Thulin, Pl. Syst. Evol. 240: 35 (2003). Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 25(1): 19-43, 2018
Zygophyllum coccineum L., Sp. Pl. 1: 386 (1753); Z. desertorum Forssk., Fl. Aegypt.-Arab.: 87 (1775); Z. berenicense Scweinf., Fl. Egypt III: 65 (1887); Z. coccineum L. var. berenicense (Schweinf.) Muschl., Man. Fl. Egypt 1: 578 (1912).
Diagnosis: T. coccinea with a shrubby habit can be recognized by its cylindrical fruits and
persistent triangular stipules.
Type: Inter Kahiram & Sués, August 1762, Forsskål s.n. (Holotype: C; Isotype: BM! LD).
Small shrubs, perennial, green, up to 75 cm tall and 100 cm wide. Stem pubescent, with
unicellular simple trichomes. Leaves 2-foliolate, cylindrical, up to 14.0×4.5 mm, fleshy, petiole up to 20 mm long; stipules triangular, herbaceous, 1.5×1.0 mm, pubescent. Flowers bisexual, white, 4–7×4–5 mm, pedicel up to 10 mm long. Sepals 5, rounded-obtuse at the apex, herbaceous, yellowish green, obovate, 4–6×2–3 mm, pubescent, aestivation imbricate. Petals 5, white, spathulate, 5–7×2.0–2.5 mm, aestivation valvate. Stamens 10, 3.0–4.5 mm long, stamina appendages undivided, 2–3×1.0–1.5 mm; anthers 2-lobed, yellow, dorsifixed, dehiscent longitudinally; disc smooth. Ovary 5-locular, pubescent; style single, 1 mm long. Fruit a schizocarp, cylindrical, 9–12×3–6 mm, glabrous, peduncle up to 11 mm long.
Vernacular names: Harm, Rotreyt, Batbat.
Phenology: February to June.
Saudi Arabia: North-west to south-west Saudi Arabia (Fig. 5). Worldwide
Kuwait, Yemen, East and North Africa, and Palestine