Asteraceae
Filago

Filago desertorum Pomel

First published in Nouv. Mat. Fl. Atl.: 46 (1874)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Canary Islands, SE. Spain, N. Africa to Pakistan. It is an annual and grows primarily in the subtropical biome.

Descriptions

Ghazanfar, S. A., Edmondson, J. R. & Hind, D. J. N. (Eds). (2019). Flora of Iraq, Volume 6: Compositae.Kew Publishing

Morphology General Habit
Small grey or brownish-grey woolly herb, 2–15 cm tall, main stem terminating in a capitulum shortly above ground level with numerous branches arising below it
Morphology Leaves
Leaves obovate to oblanceolate, 1–1.5 × 0.2–0.4 mm
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Capitulum
Capitula in spherical groups of 6–12 overtopped by leaves, each 4–5 mm; phyllaries 5-seriate, lanceolate, terminating in a 1–1.5 mm long straw- coloured scarious tip, brownish or purplish on glabrous inner surface, lanate on outer surface and margins
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets
Female florets in concavity of phyllaries, numerous
sex Hermaphrodite
Hermaphrodite florets 5–7, reddish-tipped
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Achenes 0–8 mm long, elliptic, papillose; pappus deciduous.
Ecology
Desert plains and dry steppic hills, most frequently on rather sandy soils, also as a weed in fields; up to alt. ± 650 m;
Phenology
flowering & fruiting: (Feb.-)Mar.-Apr.(-May).
Distribution
Occasional in the dry steppe zone and also on the alluvial plain in the Lower Mesopotamian region, very common in the Desert region of Iraq. S. Europe, N Africa, Macaronesia (Canary Is., Azores), Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Caucasia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan.
Vernacular
DURAIHIMA (Ir.-Busaiya, Guest & Mahalhal 15620; ALAICH AL-GHAZĀL (“gazelle’s fodder”), Ir.-Jabal Sanam, Guest et al. 17041),
[FIQ]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Uses

Use
Guest et al. confirm that it is considered by local shepherds to be a plant readily grazed by sheep and other livestock – as also recorded by Muhammad Salim ar-Radhi under F. pyramidata in Arbil province, and by Guest (1933).
[FIQ]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora of Iraq

    • Ghazanfar, S. A., Edmondson, J. R. (Eds). (2013-2019). Flora of Iraq, Volumes 5.1, 5.2 and 6.0. Kew Publishing
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images