Forsskaolea tenacissima explained

Forsskaolea tenacissima is a member of the non-stinging nettles genus Forsskaolea and is in the same family as the stinging kind, Urticaceae. Described as "looking like a tough character that does not want or need a caress",[1] F. tenacissima makes its home where not many plant species survive, in stony soils, road edges, in the gravel wadi[1] and "in the rock crevices and water-receiving depressions" above the stone pavements of the Hamadas.[2]

Forsskaolea tenacissima was named in mourning of a student of Carl Linnaeus, a Swede named Peter Forsskål, who died while gathering botanical and zoological specimens from the Arabia Felix. Linnaeus named this plant Forsskaolea tenacissima because the plant was as stubborn and persistent as the student had been.[3]

Description

The almost upright 65cm (26inches) fleshy, stiff-haired, woody annual F. tenacissima appears after the rains in rocky and difficult to grow in places like the Sahel of Mauritania, and Northeast Africa (the Horn of Africa), and now recorded in Niger. It is a chamaephyte that is much relished by livestock.[4]

Leaves and stems: 5mm to 20mm leaf stalks. Broad-side of leaves are squared-oval to round 1cm (00inches) to 5cm (02inches) long and 1cm (00inches) to 7cm (03inches) wide. Upper leaf surfaces have straight and hooked hairs and the lower leaf is densely white-wooly with hair. Small leafy outgrowth at the base of the leaf are rounded, 3mm to 5mm long, 1.5mm to 2.5mm wide, persistent and dry—not green.
  • Flowers: Five involucral bracts narrow and tapering to a point, 5mm to 6mm long and densely wooly. Four to eight male flowers and two to six female flowers in the center of the flower head which is attached right to the stem. Three unequal sepals; 3mm long stamen with a pointy anther and a conical 2mm long ovary which is surrounded with dense wool. The stigma is as long as the ovary.
  • Seeds: Achenes are elliptical, reddish-brown and 2mm long.
  • Communities: In Spain, F. tenacissima has been observed in a phytosociological situation (made "on the rocks" or in the gravel wadis of Tabernas Desert) with Senecio flavus.[5]

    • F. tenacissima has been observed living low in wadis with these plant species:

    It has also been found growing in rock crevices and water-receiving depressions above the stone pavements of the Hamadas along with:

    Distribution

    Common in arid and semi-arid waste lands in sandy clay gravelly soils from sea level to 1200m (3,900feet) like Mediterranean woodlands and shrublands, semi-steppe shrublands, shrub-steppes, deserts and extreme deserts.[7]

    Native
  • Palearctic
  • Northern Africa: Algeria, Egypt Southwestern Europe: Spain
  • Southeastern Europe: Malta
  • Western Asia: Israel, Jordan, Libya, Palestine, Sinai, Tunisia
    Current
  • Palearctic
  • Northern Africa: Algeria, Egypt Southwestern Europe: Spain
  • Southeastern Europe: Malta
  • Western Asia: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Libya, Pakistan, Palestine, Sinai, Tunisia
  • Asia Temperate: India
  • Afrotropic
  • Arabian Peninsula: Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates
  • Northeast Tropical Africa: Eritrea
  • West Tropical Africa: Mauritania[4] [8]

    Uses

    The inner bark is used by natives in Sahara for manufacturing rope.[9]

    Synonyms

    External links

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: endemismos . 2008-04-24 . Flora endémica, rara o amenazada de Almería . es . https://web.archive.org/web/20080410225823/http://www.almerianatural.com/endemismos.htm . 2008-04-10 . dead .
    2. Book: Wickens , Gerald E. . J. L. Cloudsley-Thompson . Ecophysiology of Economic Plants in Arid and Semi-arid Lands . 1998 . . 3-540-52171-2 . 343 pages . Arid and Semi-Arid Regions and Ecosystems of the World . https://books.google.com/books?id=s8oSKa6_EB8C&pg=PA26 .
    3. Web site: The journey to "The happy Arabia": Peter Forsskål (1732-1763) . 2008-04-24 . 2006 . Linné on line . .
    4. Web site: Entry for Forsskaolea tenacissima Linn. [family URTICACEAE] ]. https://archive.today/20130801230329/http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.AP.UPWTA.5_411 . dead . 2013-08-01 . 2008-04-24 . Aluka . Aluka . African Plants . Ithaka Harbors, Inc .
    5. Cabello . Javier . Domingo Alcaraz . Francisco Gómez-Mercado . Juan F. Mota . Javier Navarro . Julio Peñas . Esther Giménez . Habitat, occurrence and conservation of Saharo-Arabian-Turanian element Forsskaolea tenacissima L. in the Iberian Peninsula . Journal of Arid Environments . 53 . 4 . 491–500 . April 2003 . 10.1006/jare.2002.1062 . 2003JArEn..53..491C .
    6. Web site: Report on plant surveys done during Operation Wallacea expeditions during 2005 . 2008-04-26 . Guenther . Rebecca . 2005 . Vegetation and Grazing in the St. Katherine Protectorate, South Sinai, Egypt . OPERATION WALLACEA . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070127182821/http://www.opwall.com/Library/Egypt/Egypt%20Terrestrial/Botany/Rebecca_final_report%5B1%5D%20plants%20egypt.pdf . January 27, 2007 .
    7. Web site: Forsskaolea tenacissima L . 2008-04-24 . Flora of Israel Online . Hebrew University of Jerusalem . Hebrew University of Jerusalem . https://web.archive.org/web/20131020065954/http://flora.huji.ac.il/browse.asp?action=specie&specie=FORTEN . 2013-10-20 . dead .
    8. Web site: Results from the RBGE herbarium catalogue Hits 1 to 8 of 8 matching Forsskaolea tenacissima . 2008-04-24 . Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh . Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh . 2008-04-11 .
    9. Dictionary of Economic Plants by J.C. TH. Uphof, Verlag von J. Cramer, 3301 Lehre, 1968.

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