Herniaria hirsuta L.

Family: Caryophyllaceae
Flowering Time: Mar-Apr.

General Appearance

Herniaria hirsuta L., it is an annual, prostrate, branched, hirsute, herb. Stem and branches with 2-4 mm long internodes, with short hairs. Leaves opposite, sessile, covered with stiff short hairs or older ones occasionally marginally ciliate, alternate on flowering shoots, narrowly elliptic-oblong to elliptic, 2-4 mm long and 1-1.25 mm wide, obtuse, margin entire, hirsute. Inflorescence dense leaf opposed, stellate cymose clusters of 6-9 flowers. Flowers green, pentamerous, 1-1.5 mm long, sessile, perigynous, densey covered with short, stiff, spreading hairs, perigynous zone sub glabrous to almost glabrous. Sepals 5, equal or somewhat unequal in older flowers, c. 1 mm long, oblong, obtuse, covered with stiff, whitish spreading hairs, margins membranous. Petals 5, free, filiform, alternate with and shorter than sepals, c. 0.4 mm long. Stamens 3-5, antisepalous, filaments minute; anthers ovoid. Ovary ovoid-subglobose, papillose near the apex; style minute, bilobed with 2 minute stigmas divergent in fruit. Fruit papillose near the apex, scarcely equalling the persistent sepals. Seed minute, ovoid, brown.

Life Form

Th

Phytochoria

ES+MED+IT. The native range of this species is Europe to Central Asia and W. Himalaya, NW. & NE. Africa to Arabian Peninsula.

Distribution in Libya

Zliten-Misurata Plain:  Zliten coast 2022

Jabal Nafusa:  Wadi Kaam (Dam & lake) 2022

Marmarica Plateau:  From Tobruk to Egyptian Border 1999

First: Encyclopedia Flora of Libyan:

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Second: Researches and PhD theses, master theses, Sorted by Newest:

Almushghub, F., Ahmed, D., Sharaf El-Din, A., Shaltout, k. (2022) Vegetation analysis of Wadi Kaam at northwest Libya. Journal of Basic and Environmental Sciences, 9 (2022) 20-37. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357516127_Vegetation_analysis_of_Wadi_Kaam_at_northwest_Libya, https://jbes.journals.ekb.eg/article_372060_558ee8095e2cf97881a8a3cc705aa126.pdf

Vegetation analysis of Wadi Kaam at northwest Libya.2022

El-karnawdy, F.O.M., Abogmiza, A.F.M., Alsouyid, H.M.M., Ajaj. K.A.K. (2022) Floristic composition of Zygophyllum coccineum L. Associates in Zliten coast, Libya. 5th International African conference on current studies. February 2-5, 2022 Cairo, Egypt.

Floristic composition of Zygophyllum coccineum L. Associates in Zliten coast. 2022

Saaed, M.W.B., EL-Barasi, Y.M. & Rahil, R.O. (2021) An updated checklist and quantitative analysis of the Marmarica Plateau flora, in the north-eastern part of Libya. Phytotaxa 509 (1): 001-055. https://phytotaxa.mapress.com/pt/article/view/phytotaxa.509.1.1

An-updated-checklist-and-quantitative-analysis-of-the-Marmarica-Plateau-flora-مضغوط

EL-Habony, A.M. (1999) Vegetation and flora of a sector along Mediterranean cost of Libya from Tobruk to Egyptian border, M.Sc. Thesis, Botany Department-Faculty of Science-Garyounis University, Benghazi, Libya. (in Arabic).

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