Pluchea ovalis (Pers.) DC.

Compositae, H. Beentje, C. Jeffrey & D.J.N. Hind. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2005

Morphology General Habit

Woody herb or shrub 0.7–3 m high, forming rounded clumps; whole plant aromatic; stems much branched, cylindrical, striate, grey-pubescent to white arachnoid-pubescent, glandular, winged or at least with partial decurrent wings from the leaf-base, the wings coarsely dentate.

Morphology Leaves

Leaves grey-green, sessile, elliptic, ovate or obovate, 3–12 cm long, 1–6 cm wide, base auriculate and with decurrent wings, margins irregularly dentate with callose teeth, apex rounded or acute, puberulous to scabridulous but often with remnants of arachnoid pubescence along the midrib, glandular.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Capitulum

Capitula white to pale pink or mauve, 4–8(–10) mm long, many in terminal leafy corymbs; stalks of individual capitula 1–2 mm long; phyllaries ovate with mauve tips, the innermost linear, 1.5–6 mm long, 0.5–2 mm wide, acute, puberulous and ciliate; inner phyllaries deciduous after anthesis; receptacle convex.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets

Outer florets in several rows, with tube 3–4.2 mm long; style 3.5–4.2 mm long with filiform branches; inner florets 4–9, tube 2.8–4.2 mm long, lobes 0.4–0.7 mm long; anthers 1.6–2.2 mm long with minute but distinct tails and a 0.4 mm long appendage; style 4–5 mm long with distinct and puberulous branches.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Achenes narrowly obovoid, 0.8–1.1 mm long, glabrous or sparsely hairy; pappus white turning pale brown, of bristles 3–5 mm long.

Habitat

Swampy conditions, lake banks (may be dominant along Rift Valley lakes), stream banks, near springs, dry watercourses, either in the open or under woodland, on sandy soils, also on saline or alkaline soils; 1–2000 m

Distribution

K1 K3 K4 K5 K6 K7 T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T7 U1 U2 W Africa from Senegal to Ethiopia and Somalia and Arabia, and south to Angola and Zambia

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

Morphology General Habit

Shrub 1–2 m tall with brown, finely pubescent stems

Morphology Leaves

Leaves sessile, broadly to narrowly ovate, up to 5 × 4.5 cm, acute to obtuse, dentate, the lamina on both surfaces olive- or grey- green and softly hairy

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Inflorescence of corymbs terminating main and secondary branches, stems leafless above; involucres 6–7 × 0.8–1 cm; phyllaries pale green, margins hyaline, minutely glandular, innermost with fimbriate margin, outermost ovate, 2 mm, grading into linear innermost

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla

Corollas pink to purple; female florets ± 40, 8 mm; hermaphrodite ± 12, 8–9 mm

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Achenes 0.5–1 mm, cylindrical, pilose; pappus of ± 14 off-white hairs.

Ecology

Damp places near water: on mud banks in marshes, on a semi-disturbed silt island in a tidal stretch of river, a weed in tidally irrigated date gardens; alt. s.l.–12 m;

Phenology

flowering & fruiting: (Dec.-)Mar.-Apr.

Distribution

Common in the southern marsh and Basra districts of the Desert Zone in SE Iraq. S Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Africa.

Vernacular

?SHABĀBAQ (Ir.-Amara, Guest 1628), KHARFASH (Ir.-Basra, Guest 16729 – “an erect slightly aromatic shrublet”).

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/164250/140383779

Conservation

LC - least concern

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