Flora

Atriplex mollis Desf.

Common Name: Gatf

Family: Amaranthaceae

Flowering Time: Auq-Nov.

General Appearance

Atriplex mollis Desf., it is a shrub up to 30-70 cm tall, much branched, with greyish stem and whitish branches, erect or sub erect, monoecious. Leaves 7-20 x 2-6 mm, alternate, lanceolate, elliptic to linear-lanceolate, entire, coriaceous, sessile or sub sessile, narrowed below, obtuse at apex, whitish-grey. Male and female flowers on the same axillary or terminal panicles. Male flowers with 5 tepals, 5 stamens and small pistillode. Fruiting bracteoles suborbicular, papyraceous, entire or sometimes emarginate at apex, free, 5-8 (-11) mm in diam., usually conspicuously reticulate-veined and with vague protuberances or papillae; stigmas 2, filiform; pericarp membranous: seed vertical. brown. 1.5-2 mm in diam., lenticular-ovate. finely reticulated.

Life Form

Phytochoria

SA. The native range of this species is Kriti (Gavdopoula), N. Africa.

Distribution in Libya

Al-Jafarah Plain:

(30 km) from Sabratah to Zwarar, Ghambun, between Al-Assa and Al-Watia 1976

Sirte Plains:

(10 km) before Sirte (55 km) before Sirte 1977

Jabal Nafusa:

Jado 1977

Marmarica Plateau:

Reported in Marmarica north-eastern part of Libya by Pampanini 1930 Tobruk 1975 Tobruk 1977 Marmarica (north-eastern part of Libya) 2002 Dafna region (Tobruk to Msaid) 2008

Notes

Wild in Libya.

For more information

https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:163977-1, https://www.ipni.org/n/163977-1, http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-0000556296, https://www.gbif.org/species/3757317, https://africanplantdatabase.ch/en/nomen/specie/131505/atriplex-mollis-desf, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi

Bibliographic References

First: Encyclopedia Flora of Libyan:

Jafri, S. M. H. & El-Gadi, A. (1978) Flora of Libya, Chenopodiaceae Vol. (58) Department of Botany, Al-Faateh Univ., Tripoli, Libya.

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

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

Barrani, M. W. (2008) A study of environmental degradation factors in the semi-desert Dafna Region-Libya. Master Thesis-Department of Science and environmental engineering-Postgraduate Academy Benghazi branch. (In Arabic)

El-Shaary MS. 2002. The Natural Vegetation in Marmarica plateau (North-eastern Libya). First ed. Tobruk (Libya): Published by the local Authority. (In Arabic)