Caryophyllaceae
Paronychia

Paronychia arabica (L.) DC.

First published in Cat. Pl. Horti Monsp.: 130 (1813)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Sahara to SW. & S. Iraq and Arabian Peninsula. It is an annual or subshrub and grows primarily in the desert or dry shrubland biome.

Descriptions

Ghazanfar, S. A. & Edmondson, J. R (Eds). (2016) Flora of Iraq, Volume 5 Part 1: Elatinaceae to Sphenocleaceae.

Morphology General Habit
Annual or perennial herbs
Morphology Stem
Stems prostrate, 4–30 cm long, much branched from base, shortly pubescent to puberulous
Morphology Leaves
Leaves linear-oblong to narrowly obovate, 4–10 mm, attenuate to base, mucronate at apex, puberulous to glabrous, ± ciliate on margins
Morphology Leaves Stipules
Stipules narrowly ovate to lanceolate, glabrous or ciliate on margins, shorter or longer leaves, sometimes densely imbricate
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Glomerules pseudo-axillary and terminal, often densely congested along the short lateral branches
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts
Bracts ovate, up to 3 mm
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers with hooked hairs on perigynous zone
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Sepals ± 1.5 mm long, hairy or glabrous on herbaceous part, broadly scarious margined, cucculate; awn equalling or shorter than sepals
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals equalling to filaments
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
Ovary ovoid, papillose at top; style bilobed
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit ovoid-oblong, papillose on upper part.
Ecology
Sandy and gravel soils; alt. 0–450 m;
Phenology
Flowering: Feb.–May.
Distribution
Iraq: Common in desert areas. N Africa, E and S Turkey, SW and S Iraq, Arabian Peninsula (Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait), S Iran.
[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]

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 2026. 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 2026. 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