Caryophyllaceae
Polycarpaea

Polycarpaea robbairea (Kuntze) Greuter & Burdet

First published in Willdenowia 12: 189 (1982)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Sahara to NE. Tropical Africa, Sinai to Iraq and Arabian Peninsula. It is a perennial and grows primarily in the desert or dry shrubland biome.

Descriptions

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]

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

Morphology General Habit
Annual or perennial glabrous herbs
Morphology Stem
Stems 5–25 cm high, numerous, prostrate to ascending, branched
Morphology Leaves
Leaves 5–8 mm long, linear to narrowly obovate
Morphology Leaves Stipules
Stipules 0.7–1.5 mm long, triangular
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers in lax cymes; pedicels to 2 mm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts
Bracts ovate with green midrib and white scarious margins
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Sepals ovate-elliptic, 1.5–2.5 mm long with narrow scarious margins
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petal white to pinkish, ovate to cordate, equalling to slightly exceeding the sepals
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule subglobose
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds smooth, glossy.
Ecology
Sandy calcareous soils, cultivated fields; alt. 0–400 m;
Phenology
Flowering: Feb.–Apr.
Distribution
Iraq, N Africa, Sudan, Palestine, S Arabia, Yemen, Oman, UAE, Qatar and Kuwait.
[FIQ]

M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS

Morphology General Habit
Sprawling herb, base woody, stems to 20 cm long, branching mainly from base; glabrous throughout
Morphology Leaves
Leaves linear to oblanceolate, 7–16 x 0.5–1.5(–3) mm, tip acute to obtuse
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Cymes very lax, variably dichasial and monochasial with flowers tending to cluster at tips; bracts ovate, up to c. 1.3 mm long, obtuse, scarious except for thickened midrib; pedicels up to 2 mm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Sepals elliptic-ovate, c. 2.5 x 1 mm, outer slightly smaller, obtuse, scarious margins sharply delineated from green centre
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals ovate-oblong, base attenuated into claw, white, up to as long as sepals
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens 5, half as long as sepals
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Style
Style c. 0.7 mm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule subglobose, shorter than sepals, valve margins not thickened, tip recurved
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds many, curved-ovoid, hilum terminal, minutely papillate, c. 0.45 mm long.
Distribution
N2 Eritrea, west to Mauretania; north to Iraq; Arabia.
Ecology
Altitude range c. 20–50 m.
Note
Originally misidentified as Alsine (Polycarpon) prostratum, hence the complex synonymy, all based on Delile’s collection and description, not the original species of Forsskål.
[FSOM]

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

  • Flora of Somalia

    • Flora of Somalia
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/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