Ambrosia maritima L.

Family: Asteraceae

General Appearance

Ambrosia maritima L., it is an annual plant, up to 20-60 cm tall, hairy-cane-like, with a penetrating odor. Branched stem, densely hairy. Leaves ash-green above, whitish-hairy below, petiolate, oval in their outline, bipinnatipartite or pinnatipartite, with pinnatifid segments, with obtuse lobes.  Inflorescences are in spikes or terminals racemes formed by small capitulums of two types: Male sessile capitulums or slightly stalked and bending, about 3 mm in diameter with an obconical-campanulate involucre; female sessile capitulums, solitary or in clusters on the axils of upper leaves. Involucre of female capitulums have some short, thick spikes on the top, extended like a beak around the style and tightly wrapping the smooth obovoid.  Fruits small (4 mm long), almost as wide as long, grooved-rugose, with towards the middle a whorl of 4-6 short spreading-erect spines, almost truncate at the top, ending in a slightly bifid beak.

Life Form

Th

Phytochoria

MED+SA+SZ, The native range of this species is Macaronesia, Africa, Madagascar, Medit to Arabian Peninsula

Distribution in Libya

Ghat area:

Reported from Wadi Iseien, near Ghat by Corti

First: Encyclopedia Flora of Libyan:

Jafri, S. M. H. & El-Gadi, A. (1983) Flora of Libya, Asteraceae Vol. (107) Department of Botany, Al-Faateh Univ., Tripoli, Libya.

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

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